A New and Improved Murray

Lamond Murray ran up quite a phone bill while the Clippers were in Japan to open the 1994-95 season.

He kept calling his wife, Carmen, who was past due with their first child.

“I called her every day,” said Murray, who made it back in time to witness the birth of his son, Lamond Jr., now 3.

“It was a different experience,” Murray said. “I can’t even describe it. You have to have your own kids [he also has a daughter, Ashley, 1] to know about it.

“Your whole life changes. You’re doing something for an infant that can’t talk and walk. It shows a whole different side of you, a giving side. You really don’t worry about yourself.”

Murray has shown a different side of himself on the court this season.

He used to pout about what he considered inadequate playing time but seems now to have accepted his role as the Clippers’ sixth man. But he doesn’t see himself as a different person.

“I haven’t changed my whole attitude or perspective,” he said. “However people want to perceive me is how they’re going to perceive me.

“They’ll go, ‘Oh, he was immature when he came out [of college], but he’s mature now.’

“I’m the same person I was when I came out of college. But everybody goes through things that either make you tougher or weaker. I think I’m a lot tougher than I was. I don’t let things bother me like I used to.

“If that’s being more mature, then I’m more mature.”

The seventh player selected in the 1994 draft, Murray was 21 when he began his NBA career, having left California after his junior season.

He’s in his fourth season now but at 24, he’s the Clippers’ fourth-youngest player. Only rookies Maurice Taylor, Keith Closs and second-year swingman Lorenzen Wright are younger.

“He was really immature when he left Cal,” said former Cal Coach Lou Campanelli, now a scout for the Cleveland Cavaliers. “But now he has a couple of kids and he’s more mature.”

Murray, who broke the school scoring record set by Phoenix Sun guard Kevin Johnson, expected instant success in the NBA.

“I figured I’d be a superstar,” he said. “I got off to a great start but things got stunted from there.”

The Clippers’ second-leading scorer as a rookie, Murray increased his production as the season wore on, averaging 14.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists.

He had 15 points in 19 minutes in the 1995 NBA rookie All-Star game and scored the winning basket in overtime.

And he got off to a good start in his second season, averaging 16.3 points in his first eight games before catching flu. He lost 10 pounds while he was sick and never was quite the same afterward.

“My second year when I came back, I came back a little too soon and I shot poorly in one game,” he said. “It was a struggle for me the rest of the season to get my confidence back.”

As a result, after having started 61 games and averaging 31.6 minutes as a rookie, he started only 32 games in his second season, averaging 8.4 points and 23.6 minutes.

The downward spiral continued last season, when Murray started only one game and averaged 7.4 points and 17.5 minutes.

He also clashed with Coach Bill Fitch, but now seems more at peace with himself.

“Whatever happened in the past is all over with now,” said Murray, suspended for a game by Fitch in 1996 for making critical comments to a reporter. “You grow from those things and move on.”

Off to the best start of his career, Murray averaged 14.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 30.6 minutes in his first 26 games before missing two games after spraining his right wrist in a 20-point loss at Boston on Dec. 21.

“His hand looked like a truck ran over it,” Fitch said. “We couldn’t even find his knuckles for two days.”

Still, the injury hasn’t slowed him much.

Murray had 16 points, two on a spectacular dunk two minutes into the final quarter, in Friday’s 15-point victory at Golden State.

“That was probably the best dunk I’ve had since I’ve been in the NBA,” said Murray, who made seven of 12 shots. “I practiced hard all week and got back into my rhythm.”

Fitch said Murray may be the most improved Clipper.

“His game is light years ahead of where it was,” the coach said. “The toughest position to play is [small forward]. Lamond has gotten better every year he’s been here and this has been his best year so far.”

Murray has been among the NBA leaders in field-goal percentage much of the season. He ranked 15th, at 50.6%, before he missed seven of nine shots in Wednesday night’s 110-102 win over Vancouver.

“He seems to be more confident and more consistent,” Seattle Coach George Karl said. “I thought he’d be a very good player. He was a scorer and he had good hands.”

Murray’s attitude seems to have played a role in his new success.

“Going through the experiences I have over the years, you learn what your job is,” he said. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. You know what your job is. It’s a job now and I’ve gotten used to my job.

“I know that I’m going to log a certain amount of hours and I want to be productive in those hours. Once I leave here, if I’ve had a productive night or I haven’t, I figure there’s 82 more left.

“I just go out and play hard in the minutes I’m given, no matter whether I’m starting or . . . not.

“I don’t worry about what the coach’s job is. I guess it’s all about growing up and knowing that I can’t control how many minutes I might play. All I can control is what I do. I really don’t pay attention to what everyone is saying.”

Murray played perhaps his best game as a professional in a 122-113 loss at Miami on Nov. 19, scoring a career-best 32 points in 33 minutes as a reserve. He made a career-high 14 field goals, among them all three of his three-point shots.

Murray scored 27 points in the second half to rally the Clippers from a 30-6 first-quarter deficit.

“When we were sitting on the bench [in the first quarter], we were looking up there and it was 30-6 and it was like, ‘We’ve dug ourselves a hole again, now we’re going to have to come back.’ You can’t do that every night,” he said.”

Shy and reserved when he joined the Clippers, Murray has opened up. He laughs freely now and he’s more expressive on the court. He even high-fived a fan after dunking during a four-point overtime victory over the San Antonio Spurs at the Sports Arena.

Murray has the names of his wife and children tattooed over his heart and credits his wife, a budding businesswoman, for helping him maintain his perspective.

“She’s been there for me since I was in college, when I didn’t even have a car and wasn’t a big superstar,” he said. “She’s been there through all the good times and the struggles.

“I’d come home and [say], ‘It’s really hard for me to go out there and sit on the bench. I just feel like I’m going through the motions.’ ”

Carmen Murray, 25, a former actress and model who had roles in several music videos, runs the family’s music-production company, Title Nine.

They have one act, Sure Thing, that has recorded a demo, hoping for a distribution deal.

“It’s a different challenge,” Murray said. “[But] it’s similar to basketball because it’s political.”

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Murray on Rise

How Lamond Murray’s 1997-98 statistics per game compare with his career numbers:

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Category 1997-98 Career Points 14.0 10.1 Rebounds 5.6 3.6 Field goal % 49.9 41.7 Free throw % 72.4 74.8

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