He Plays With One Arm and Defense Is His Game

It’s a weekday afternoon at John F. Kennedy High School in La Palma, and the freshman Fighting Irish basketball team is pounding up and down the court inside the gymnasium. The players’ colorful uniforms reflect the yellow-and-green-painted walls, one of which sports a school anthem in tall letters (“The Fighting Irish we will be--To win our fight for victory...”) above an enormous American flag.

More than half the players belong to one minority or another, although they all wear tunics that say “Kennedy Fighting Irish” on the front and “Go Irish Go” on the back.

League Champions

But despite the incongruity of their team name, these freshman students are the champions in their league. They will play the last game of the season Friday, but they have already secured the title.

One substantial reason for their success can be found in a 14-year-old, 5-foot, 5-inch guard named Jeff Murakami. Coach Bill Bloom calls him “as good a defensive technician as I’ve ever coached,” although--or perhaps because--Jeff has only one flesh-and-blood arm. The boy was born without a left arm, and usually wears a maneuverable fiberglass prosthesis.

Jeff, Bloom said, is “not a scorer. He’s a team player; he’s an unselfish player. It’s difficult to be a great scorer and a great defensive player--the two are not compatible. Because he has a physical defect, he may be willing to assume a position no one else wants to assume. Maybe if he had two arms, he would be trying to do things he couldn’t do.”

A Natural Talent

Jeff doesn’t have the height to be a big point-maker in basketball, the coach added, but he seems to have a natural talent for stopping rival players from making points.

This is Bloom’s first year on the high school staff, but he says that “in my 17 years of coaching, this is one of the most enjoyable jobs I’ve ever had, and Jeff Murakami is one of the reasons for that. Jeff’s defensive stance is as good as an all-state player I had at El Camino (Community College), although defensive stance is the hardest thing in the whole game of basketball. Jeff is the role model on defense. He’s the best we have. He’s won at least five of our games just by stopping the guy who was beating us.”

When called into the recent afternoon practice session, Jeff showed intense concentration on the game. He seemed always aware of what the other players were doing, and he showed a sophisticated ability for moving the ball up and down the court with a strong right-handed dribble and frequent passing to teammates.

Off the court, during a post-practice interview at his family’s home, he exhibited a quiet but sunny personality. Having one arm, he seemed to indicate, is no big deal.

Jeff has played various sports since he was 6 years old. He and his two younger brothers participate in team sports most of the year through their church. Richard Murakami, Jeff’s father, is one of the coaches for the church teams. “My dad got us all involved. He’s really supportive of all of us,” said the freshman player, whose commitment to the high school team has prevented him from playing for his church this season.

Some Reservations

Jeff had some reservations about trying out for the freshman basketball team, but they didn’t last long. “At first I didn’t know if I really wanted to play,” he said. Of the 35 who tried out, 14 made the team. (“He was one of the first kids I wanted,” Bloom says now. “He did exactly what I wanted.”)

This is the first season Jeff has worn his artificial arm while playing. In church league games, he wasn’t allowed to wear the prosthesis because it is made of hard fiberglass, with a little bit of metal in the “hand.” And Jeff may not be able to wear his artificial limb much longer in high school games.

According to the rules of the National Federation of State High School Assns., “hard and unyielding” prostheses are forbidden because of their potential for injuring other players. Kennedy officials are still uncertain whether Jeff will be required to play without the limb, but the boy’s mother said that if necessary a new, softer prosthesis will be made for her son. Such a limb would be particularly important if he pursues his present dream of playing high school football.

Best at Baseball

He says he would like to be a fullback but knows that he is rather small for that position. So he’ll probably try for quarterback. Actually, he added, baseball is the sport at which he’s most proficient. He’s a strong hitter who swings the bat with his powerful right arm, often balancing the bat with his prosthesis.

Jeff excels in academics as well as sports--and seems to take his success in both areas in stride. According to his mother, he was an honors student through junior high school, finishing with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.4. His two electives this semester at Kennedy are Spanish and computer classes, and he devotes his weekdays almost exclusively to school, sports practice and homework. Eventually, he plans to attend college, possibly to become an engineer or a doctor. Meanwhile, on weekends he likes to hang out with his peers, go dancing or play pickup games of basketball. Girls are part of his world view, although he said that he doesn’t have a girlfriend right now. (“I just got done with one,” he explained.)

Katherine Murakami said her son has never been particularly bothered by his lack of a left arm. When he was a baby she took him to a prosthetic specialist, and by the time he was 7 months old he had his first artificial arm. As a toddler he had therapy two or three times a week to learn how to operate the arm, which moves when he flexes particular back muscles. Now he has annual checkups, and every year a replacement prosthesis is made to match his growing body.

‘Well-Rounded Boy’

“He’s a well-rounded boy, except he’s very quiet,” his mother said. “He doesn’t complain. He’s never had any problems with any of the kids. That’s what’s amazing to me, that he’s never had any confrontations. He’s never come home crying, although people used to look, and even now he’s sort of self-conscious, I’m sure.” With the sophisticated artificial limb Jeff currently wears, “the only thing he really can’t do is hold things with that one hand,” she added.

His teammates don’t give him problems about his artificial limb, according to Jeff. “They’re all basically sticking with me and helping me develop my skills,” he said. “We’re like one big family, helping each other meet the goals we set up at the beginning of the season.”

Bloom evaluates Jeff as a boy who is “quiet, with a lot of self-confidence.” Off the court, the coach said, he is “extremely funny, extremely witty, but at the same time he’s much more mature than the other kids.” On the court, Jeff “puts 100% of himself into the game,” Bloom said.

‘Mental Courage’

“That means he’s willing to make a mistake. That shows a lot of mental courage, and I put a lot of pressure on him. I don’t favor him.” But sometimes “I get concerned about being fair to him,” Bloom said, because so much is demanded of the boy.

If lacking a left arm bothers Jeff, “he doesn’t show it,” Bloom added. Nor does he let his advanced athletic skill go to his head. “If he thought he was all that great, then his head wouldn’t be in the same place” and he wouldn’t play as well, according to Bloom. Yet, the coach added, Jeff is “a lot better than anybody will ever realize. He’s like a coach on the floor. He’s the best defensive player we have.”