# Erik Murphy

Erik Murphy (born October 26, 1990) is a French-born Finnish-American professional basketball player for the Kawasaki Brave Thunders of the Japanese B1 league. Drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 2013, he also represents the Finnish national team.

## High school career

Murphy played high school basketball at St. Mark's School in Southborough, Massachusetts.
Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Murphy was listed as the No. 22 power forward and the No. 79 player in the nation in 2009.

## College career

Murphy accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Billy Donovan's Florida Gators men's basketball team from 2009 to 2013.
Murphy became the 49th Florida Gator to record 1,000 points in his collegiate career and was the only Gator to receive first-team all-conference accolades in 2013. He became a regular in the starting lineup in his junior year and was named to the All-SEC Tournament team in 2012 and 2013.

## Professional career

Murphy was selected with the 49th overall pick by the Chicago Bulls in the 2013 NBA draft. On July 10, 2013, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Bulls. On November 6, 2013, Murphy made his NBA debut for the Bulls, playing one minute and not recording any stats. He scored a career-high 2 points on three occasions: December 10, 2013 vs. Milwaukee, December 28, 2013 vs. Dallas, and March 13, 2014, vs. Houston. On April 3, 2014, he was waived by the Bulls. On April 5, 2014, the Utah Jazz claimed him off waivers.
On July 22, 2014, Murphy was traded, along with John Lucas III and Malcolm Thomas, to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Carrick Felix, a 2015 second-round draft pick and cash considerations. On September 25, 2014, he was traded, along with John Lucas III, Dwight Powell, Malcolm Thomas, and the Cavaliers' 2016 and 2017 second-round picks, to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Keith Bogans and two future second-round picks. On October 27, 2014, he was waived by the Celtics.
On November 1, 2014, Murphy was selected by the Austin Spurs with the third overall pick in the 2014 NBA D-League draft.
On July 4, 2015, Murphy signed with Beşiktaş of the Turkish Basketball Super League for the 2015–16 season. In late December 2015, he left Beşiktaş. On January 4, 2016, he signed with Demir İnşaat Büyükçekmece for the rest of the season.
On June 26, 2016, Murphy signed with Strasbourg IG of the LNB Pro A for the 2016–17 season. He will join Finnish national coach Henrik Dettman who reached an agreement with the Strasbourg IG earlier.
On July 28, 2017, Murphy signed with Nanterre 92 for the 2017–18 season.
On February 11, 2018, Murphy signed with New Basket Brindisi of the Italian LBA, but didn't play for them. On March 17, he signed with the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA G League. He signed a three-month deal, with an option for the remainder of the season, with the Skyliners Frankfurt of the German Basketball Bundesliga on August 28, 2018.
On January 28, 2019, he has signed with Baxi Manresa of the Spanish Liga ACB.
Murphy played three seasons for Fukushima Firebonds in the B2 league, second-tier in Japan, before signing with Gunma Crane Thunders in the Japanese B1 league on 25 October 2023, on a one-year deal.

## National team career

Murphy made his debut for the Finnish national team in August 2014 in a friendly match against Lithuania. He recorded nine points and five rebounds in his debut appearance. He later played in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup where Finland's campaign was ended at the group stages; Murphy averaged 6.8 points over five games. He represented Finland again at EuroBasket 2015, helping his team advance from the group stage.

## Personal life

Murphy's father, Jay Murphy, is a former NBA player. His mother, Päivi, from whom he gained a Finnish citizenship by birth, played for the Finland women's national basketball team from 1988 to 1994. His younger brother Alex Murphy also played at Florida.
He holds both American and Finnish passports.

## NBA career statistics
### Regular season

| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| 2013–14 | Chicago | 24 | 0 | 2.6 | .231 | .000 | .000 | .3 | .1 | .0 | .2 | .3 |
| Career | | 24 | 0 | 2.6 | .231 | .000 | .000 | .3 | .1 | .0 | .2 | .3 |

## Career statistics
### EuroCup

| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
| 2015–16 | Beşiktaş | 9 | 6 | 22.1 | .382 | .289 | .750 | 4.6 | .8 | .6 | .9 | 7.7 | 6.3 |
| 2018–19 | Skyliners Frankfurt | 12 | 5 | 21.7 | .598 | .641 | .826 | 3.3 | .8 | .4 | .9 | 13.8 | 13.2 |
| Career | | 21 | 11 | 21.9 | .512 | 0.468 | 0.806 | 3.9 | .8 | .5 | .9 | 11.2 | 10.3 |

### National team

| Team | Tournament | Pos. | GP | PPG | RPG | APG |
| Finland | 2014 FIBA World Cup | 22nd | 5 | 6.8 | 5.4 | 0.2 |
| Finland | EuroBasket 2015 | 16th | 6 | 13.2 | 7.7 | 1.3 |
| Finland | EuroBasket 2017 | 11th | 6 | 4.5 | 2.7 | 0.8 |