Tracy Murray is a retired NBA player and now Color Analyst for UCLA Basketball and Coach of the Ball Up Streetball team. He played 12 years in the NBA, and scored an amazing 50 points in a single game on February 10th, 1998.
Ivan McGovern: Describe your background and how you were raised.
Tracy Murray: Well, I have to credit my parents. I grew up in Pasadena, California. Both of my parents have been there my entire life; they’ve been married 42 years now. With that type of stability and support, I was able to follow in the right path. I had a male role model, which was my dad, and I had a strong mother that worked hard. Both parents worked hard. That leads to success when you have two hardworking people that do the right thing in front of you every day.
IM: Were there any obstacles you had to overcome growing up?
TM: Yeah, I had a few obstacles. We moved away from Pasadena because of, you know, gang violence so to speak. Being recruited by gangs, gangs writing on our property, so it was time to go. That was in the 8th grade, the end of 8th grade. Then that summer going into 9th grade, I had a major hip surgery, in which they told me I would never play again. I ended up growing from 5’10” to 6’4” in 3 months, so my body went haywire. They ended up cutting the bone that was curving, and replaced it with eight screws.
IM: At what point in your life did you realize that you could become a professional basketball player?
TM: Probably my senior year. I never played my freshman year. Coming back my sophomore year, I averaged 28 points a game, my junior year I averaged 31 a game. My senior year I averaged 44, so it was like a situation today where I would’ve been drafted in the NBA. But back then, it was unheard of, only three people had done it to jump from high school to the league. I knew I wasn’t ready. I knew I wasn’t ready physically, I knew I wasn’t ready athletically, I knew I had a long way, a long path, to go before I got to that. But being a McDonalds All-American I knew I had a shot.
IM: What was it about UCLA that made you say, “that’s where I want to play college ball, that’s where I want to be”?
TM: Well, as a kid, I followed UCLA basketball and Coach John Wooden and what he was doing. I always wanted to go there as a kid, but then when you start getting recruited by different schools, and you see different styles that would be beneficial to you and your game, you start considering other places. So, it was 1-2 with UNLV. UNLV went on probation, so it made the decision easy to go to UCLA. My top 5 was Louisville, UCLA, Villanova, New Mexico, and UNLV. Louisville dropped out of the top 5 when – Allan Houston is my cousin – his dad took the Tennessee job, and he decided to go there with his Dad; that’s when I eliminated Louisville.
IM: So shooting runs in the family, huh? (Houston was a prolific sharpshooter for years in the NBA, and he has a career three-point percentage over 40%)
TM: Oh, yes it does. [Laughs] My brother can shoot, my cousin Lamond [Murray] can shoot, Allan can shoot, my Dad can shoot, everyone can shoot.
IM: So you brought up John Wooden, and obviously you’re a coach now. Did being around him and his protégés affected the coach you are today?
TM: Yeah, it affects me when I’m coaching with kids. Ball Up is different, totally different page. It’s something that Coach Wooden wouldn’t even watch. He was a fundamentals guy. He didn’t like flash; he didn’t like making a mockery of your teammates, and the opponent. So, this is something that Coach Wooden wouldn’t even consider, but when I’m helping my brother coach our travel ball team in the summer when I’m not doing Ball Up and in the springtime, yes, a lot of what I learned – everything that UCLA does, I don’t care who the coach is, it has some sort of influence with Coach John Wooden and his teachings that’s been passed down.
IM: Do you have any thoughts about the recent UCLA coaching scandal, where Coach Ben Howland was caught playing beer pong with his underage players?
TM: The thing about Coach is, he’s known not to be able to identify with his players. So I think he may have been trying to identify more with them, and I’m not saying it was the right way to do it… but maybe he was trying to let his hair down and identify with his players a little bit. Not the right thing when they’re underage though.
IM: Who was your idol growing up, either on or off the court?
TM: My role model was my dad, that’s who I looked up to. But basketball wise, I had a few. I had Magic Johnson of course, growing up and watching the “Showtime Lakers”, and Michael Cooper of course, and I actually went to a bunch of his basketball camps every year. My dad used to babysit him when he was a kid, so there’s a connection. Bernard King too. That’s actually the reason why I wore number 30 most of my career. High school, college, sometimes in the pros. He was someone who I thought was unbelievable to watch play. He would score 40 points easily. You think Michael Jordan did it easy, Bernard King could get it done just as easily, and he didn’t have the athleticism of Jordan. He was aggressive from the start, and there was just no stopping him. He could shoot from three-point range, and he could post you up. He could draw fouls, and he could hit free throws. Just an unbelievable basketball player.
IM: Hakeem Olajuwon, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Clyde Drexler, Vince Carter… you played with them all. Who is the GREATEST player you ever played with?
TM: Probably Hakeem Olajuwon. What he did to the MVP of the year the year we won the championship was just masterful. I’ve never seen a massacre like that in my life. And I’ve seen Michael Jordan do a lot. As a big guy, as mobile as he is, to be able to shoot out by the three point line, to be able to face you up and put the ball on the floor. He had all the post moves you want, and you can’t stop any of them. He plays defense, blocks shots. He carried the Rockets for two years and two championships. I’m not taking anything away from his supporting cast. He had the perfect supporting cast and then when I came over in the trade with Clyde Drexler, Clyde and Hakeem were like peanut butter and jelly like they were back in their Phi Slamma Jamma days. Those guys knew how to play with each other, and Hakeem needed that extra boost that year. But David Robinson, I remember he had a 71 point game that year, he won the MVP, and we all thought Hakeem should’ve gotten it. When we played him and the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, from the tip off of Game 1 to the time we won the series, I have never seen a one way thrashing like that in my life. And you know this was the MVP that year. I think Hakeem kind of took it personally that the league made a bad decision. I’m not saying David Robinson didn’t deserve it, he deserved it most of his career. But that year, Hakeem Olajuwon was the best. The year before, Hakeem Olajuwon was the best. He deserved it two years in a row. He internalized it, and as soon as tip off occurred, he showed why he deserved it. And not only did he just run through David Robinson in the Western Conference Finals, he sent Karl Malone packing first round, sent Charles Barkley packing second round, he sent David Robinson packing in the Western Conference Finals, and he swept Shaquille O’Neal in the NBA Finals. That run through the playoffs… he made it look so easy. If I was to label the 5 players you mentioned one through five, it would be Hakeem number one, Shaquille number two, Kobe number three, Clyde number four, and Vince number five.
IM: Who was the goofiest player you ever played with?
TM: A.C. Earl was funny. He was really funny. Rod Strickland was hilarious. Rod Strickland is one of the funniest dudes I’ve ever played with. Rip Hamilton was pretty funny in his young days.
IM: The biggest game of your career, your 50 point game against the Warriors on February 10th, 1998. First, did you feel different going into that game than you did going into other games?
TM: Of course. Yes, I did feel different, because I was starting. Most of my career I was a sixth man. But I knew Chris Webber wasn’t playing, I knew Juwan Howard wasn’t playing, and a couple other guys too. We had to bring in a couple guys for that game because we didn’t have enough players because so many were injured. We were playing the Warriors and it was the first game after the All Star break, and we knew we could get this game with who we had. We still had Calbert Cheaney, Rod Strickland, Harvey Grant, and Ben Wallace. I had instant confidence walking into the Coliseum anyways because I had scored 64 points in the state championship game up there. Whenever I walk in there, the ushers really make me feel at home by saying stuff like, “Oh we don’t need no 64 points tonight” so they always made me feel real loose playing there.
IM: Are there any plays or moments that you remember best?
TM: I just remember, in a 50-point game, you can’t just do one thing well. I played like I was back in high school. I knew there was no one coming to sub in for me because we hardly had anyone. If I was playing well, I would be out there as long as I wanted to be until I asked to come out. When you have that freedom of knowing you’ll be on the floor and you can take whatever shot you want to take, it’s great. But I played like I was in high school again. I posted up, I was taking fadeaways, I hit five threes, I had a few dunks, lot of midrange, coming off screens and stepping back, quick stop and pops, getting fouled and going to the free throw line because I was being aggressive. They would stick big guys on me and I’d just go around them. They stuck guys on me that were my size, and I got them in foul trouble. Then they put small guys on me, so I had to post up. It was definitely a mixture of shots. Rod [Strickland] knew I was hot, and he kept feeding me the ball. Rod had a monster game himself too. He had like 27 points, 22 assists, and 18 rebounds, and that’s your point guard. And Calbert had thirty something. We all went to work that night.
IM: If you could change anything in your life either on or off the court, what would it be?
TM: I think I would’ve had more fun as a basketball player with my teammates off the court because it builds more camaraderie. I was extremely focused and serious about my work. I was one of those guys that was straight edge. I didn’t drink. I didn’t smoke. I hung out a little bit, but when I did hang out I was back in the room pretty early. I took my job very seriously. I’d say from the time the Golden Era was done, at the end of the Magic/Isaiah Thomas/Larry Bird era, I think those were the last years of real basketball. And Michael [Jordan] was one of the last of the real basketball players. The way that the NBA was marketing it then it was entertainment, NBA entertainment. So you had to entertain the fans. Michael entertained them by putting up big numbers and dunking on people, Hakeem Olajuwon was doing it the same way. It became more social and entertainment. They started doing more interviews, and it was trying to make the NBA have a reputation of being something where people could go to be entertained. It wasn’t just a basketball game anymore. I should’ve had more fun with it. You know they’re fans that’ll talk to you while you’re on the court. I should have entertained some of that.
IM: You mentioned Bernard King as the reasoning behind why you wore #30. Where did the inspiration come from with other numbers you wore?
TM: 31 was Reggie Miller. He’s a UCLA alum, one of my good friends. Number 3 was my brother Cameron because he wore that number in high school [He later went on to play at USC and Louisville]. 35 was given to me that first year in Toronto, the inaugural season, and it was good to me. So when 30 wasn’t available, I’d try to be 35. When a number is good to you, you don’t want to leave it.
IM: What is your most memorable moment of your career?
TM: The single biggest moment is probably that 50 point game, but when you’ve been through some of the things I’ve been through in my life, you need a mental coach. Some people call it a psychiatrist, I call it my mental coach. He told me, “Once you understand what you are, and what you live by, then you can be successful.” In 5 minutes with me, he said he knew my issue was respect. It was a constant battle for me to earn respect. There’s so many people along the way in my career, whether it was young travel ball, all the way through high school after the injury, through college, all the way through the NBA, it’s always been respect because there’s people that tell you that you can’t do it. You score 50 points in the NBA, that’s instant respect. Winning the championship, that’s another moment, instant respect because there are so many greats who don’t have a ring. Getting drafted into the NBA, as nerve-wracking as that was, and as much as I never want to do it again, instant respect when you’re drafted in the first round. That saying “I made it”. When I came back my sophomore year in high school and averaged 28 a game, after 3 doctors told me I could never play again, all the critics, scouts, and so on and so forth, even some family and some friends, that one doctor told me I’d be okay. He said, “I’m going to fix you up and you’ll be good as new. From that point on, I was on a constant quest to prove people wrong and gain respect. Whenever I hit the east coast, I had my best games because if you don’t play well in New York, you don’t get respect. If you don’t play well in Boston, you don’t get respect. You don’t play well in Philly, you don’t get respect. I almost averaged 18 or 20 in New York.
IM: Why is it that so many players always play better at Madison Square Garden?
TM: Because we know it’s the Mecca of basketball and if you don’t play well here, you don’t get respect. Why do you think Steph Curry goes off for 54, why do you think Kobe comes in and has 61, Michael had his best games in the Garden. If you don’t show up in the Garden, you ain’t nothing. You were nothing if you don’t play here. That’s the way New Yorkers are. They think they’re number one in everything. And I love their swag, love that confidence. That’s what makes them special. It was the saddest day ever when those Twin Towers came down. I’ve never seen so many New Yorkers lose their swag. They were sad, they were crying, they didn’t have the same walk. And as much as I rivaled New York, because everybody says Californians are soft and we just shoot jumpshots – so there was always a fire lit under my butt when I played there and I was like “I’m going to kill someone in New York today”. But the day the towers came down, it was sad to me because I saw New Yorkers lose their confidence, their swag, who they were. I’ll never forget that day in my life. A lot of people lost their lives, and it was the first attack on US soil since Pearl Harbor, but just watching New Yorkers not being themselves made it a sad day.
IM: What’s your favorite place you’ve ever been to for a game?
TM: In terms of playing, there’s nothing like playing in the Madison Square Garden. I also loved playing in Toronto. The fans in Toronto are just unbelievable.
IM: I’ve spent time hanging around you and the Ball Up team, and you’re a very close-knit group. Are they like family now?
TM: Yeah, they’re like my little brothers. And I mean younger brothers get on your nerves sometimes so you got to distance yourself because you don’t want to get into it with them. Sometimes when they do stuff I just don’t have tolerance for, that’s when I put my headphones on and zone out. And you can’t sleep on the bus, because they play pranks. It’s fun at times, but other times it’s not fun. I get it though, because at home they have to be Daddy so they get to let loose when they’re on the road a bit.
IM: When you came into the NBA as a young kid, was there a player that really took you under his wing?
TM: Clyde Drexler. Clyde was my mentor. He was my vet. He looked out for me when things weren’t so good and I wasn’t playing and he knew I was talented. He was the guy that made the most sense out of everybody. This was a guy who was an All Star and didn’t have to talk to me. He would always say to me, “Hey man, your time is gonna come.” You got to realize the team just came from an NBA Finals the year before, so coach Rick Adelman trusted the guys he went to the Finals with. He helped inspire me to work hard in practice and be the first one there and last to leave. He taught me to always be positive and upbeat, and not be negative because people are watching. He was definitely my guardian angel those first 3 years. Then when he got traded to Houston he took me with him.
IM: Did you ever reciprocate that when you were a veteran by taking a younger player under your wing?
TM: Of course. I had to learn from him, so who’s going to teach the young guys when we’re older. Some guys I mentored were Laron Profit, Rip Hamilton, even some guys on the other team. You know, there was a young Kevin Garnett that was guarding me when he was in Minnesota. And I was giving him the business but, you know, you talk to them and encourage them after the game like, “Yo, you’re gonna be alright man, keep your head up.” The young Tracy McGrady, you know, Morris Peterson was my rookie in Toronto. You always got to reach back and help others, especially those where you can see that they really got something. Not only do they have something, but they listen.
IM: You broadcast UCLA games and you’re around them a lot. What do you think of freshman phenomenon Shabazz Muhammad and what he’s got?
TM: I think he’s a good player, but I also think that there are a lot of holes in his game that he needs to improve. He said that he’s going to go into the NBA Draft, and it’s a weak draft, which is good for him. I don’t like how all these players are leaving early; it hurts college basketball. They need to put a rule in place that keeps guys in school a little bit longer. If you look at guys like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, they didn’t develop until their third or fourth year. They weren’t ready. That’s three or four years in college that they could’ve used. I mean, you’re 17 or 18 coming out of high school. You don’t even know yourself yet. We’re not even talking about your basketball game; you’re a boy still. And you’re being thrown into a man’s game and a man’s occupation with a man’s lifestyle. Everyone’s going to treat you like a man, the crooked money managers, the groupies, and everybody else out there. They’re going to treat you like a man because you’re in a man’s game. Not only are these guys not ready physically as basketball players because their bodies aren’t strong enough, their minds are not ready. They’re not mature enough to handle sitting on the bench. They’re not mature enough to handle sitting alone in the hotel room while everyone else is out partying.
