CALVIN MURPHY
ESPN 97.5 REPORTER

"My only dream was that I wanted to start for my high school basketball team, the Norwalk High School Bears," said Murphy, who played his entire 13-year NBA career with the Rockets from 1970‑83. "Going to the Hall of Fame was beyond my wildest dreams."

This is a quote from Calvin Murphy as he enjoyed one of the many accomplishments of his life, entering the Hall of Fame on May 10, 1993.

Murphy became the first Hall of Famer to play his entire career with the Rockets, as he averaged 17.9 points and 4.4 assists in 1,002 career games. Murphy still holds the Rockets single-game scoring record with 57 points vs. New Jersey on March 18, 1978. Murphy ranks fourth on the all‑time NBA free throw percentage list of .892 and holds the NBA record with a single-season free throw percentage of.958 during the 1980‑81 season. During this record-setting campaign, he set the NBA record for by making 78 consecutive free throws from Dec. 27‑ Feb. 20, 1981.

The 5‑foot‑9 Murphy, who ranks 51st on the all‑time NBA scoring list with 17,949 career points, stands with Avery Johnson as the only two players under six feet to play in 1,000 NBA games. Murphy still owns the Rockets career record with 4,402 assists and holds the 12th-best field goal percentage (.482) among NBA guards who have scored at least 15,000 points.

Murphy led the NBA in free throw percentage twice (1980‑81, 1982‑83), and finished among the Top Five in nine other seasons. Murphy, Reggie Miller, Mark Price, and Rick Barry are the only players in league history to have shot .900 or better from the line in five or more seasons.

Murphy stands with Hakeem Olajuwon as the only two Rockets to rank in the NBA Ten in four statistical categories in one season, as the Rockets guard accomplished this feat during the 1973-74 season. That year Murphy ranked second in the NBA with 7.4 assists per game, fourth with a field goal percentage of .522, sixth with a free throw percentage of .868 and ninth with 1.94 steals per game. He also finished that season ranked 19th in among scoring leaders with 20.4 points per game.

When Calvin Murphy arrived in Houston over 34 years ago he began searching for a way to pay a debt to society for the assistance that he received during his youth in his birthplace of Norwalk, CT. When he was growing up in Connecticut there were several youth programs available to him and it has always been his dream to reach back into the community through youth programs and offer leadership and character building to our youth. The vehicle that he choose to achieve that goal was Texas Youth Academy. The vision of Texas Youth Academy first came to him in 1975. The mission of The Texas Youth Academy is to help mold and direct complete well-rounded young adults through education, athletics and support systems; teaching them the principals of dedication, discipline and pride.