Better Know Your Murray

Great article (HT: @StottsEra) about Flip* by Mike Jensen in The Philadelphia Inquirer:

All over the neighborhood, the word was out. Flip was back. Ronald "Flip" Murray had been academically ineligible for his senior season at Strawberry Mansion High. His exile ended just before the Public League playoffs.

"I saw some people I knew - they were like, 'Yeah, I got off work today, Flip is coming back.' They were comparing it to when Jordan came back to the United Center, after he had retired," said Littel Vaughn, who puts out Checkball magazine, about Philly hoops.

If memories haven't faded, Murray's first game back was a home game, against Olney High. At that time, Flip used to pack Strawberry Mansion's gym for intramural games. To get in for this one, for Flip's return, you had to know somebody at the door.

"He got three straight dunks," said Kevin "Buzz" Forney, the other star on that Strawberry Mansion team, who went on to play at Duquesne. "One of our fans stopped the whole game and came out and gave him a hug."

*Who is, as of today, out shooting Joe Johnson both on 2PT (50.2% vs. 47.2%) and 3PT (36.9% vs. 35.1%) attempts. Mind-boggling.