Kevin Michael "Murph" Loughery (born March 28, 1940) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played for 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Detroit Pistons, Baltimore Bullets, and Philadelphia 76ers. He was a head coach in the NBA and American Basketball Association (ABA) for 20 years. Loughery coached both Julius Erving and Michael Jordan; and gave Phil Jackson his first NBA coaching job, as an assistant coach with the New Jersey Nets.
Loughery won the ABA championship twice as head coach of the New York Nets. He led five different teams to the NBA playoffs; the New Jersey Nets, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, Washington Bullets, and the Miami Heat. He is among the head coaches who have received the most technical fouls in NBA history, and his practice of going up and down the sideline from baseline to baseline led to the NBA enacting a rule that more closely tethered a coach to their own bench.
Early life Loughery was born on March 28, 1940, in Brooklyn, New York. His father was a police detective. He attended Cardinal Hayes High School in The Bronx, graduating in 1957. In his senior year, Loughery was an All-City player at Cardinal Hayes, and most valuable player in the Bronx Catholic high school tournament, which his team won.
College basketball Loughery originally attended Boston College (BC), playing one year of college basketball for the Eagles (1958–59), where he averaged 16.8 points and 8.9 rebounds in 19 games. He grew homesick, however, and transferred to St. John's University, playing basketball there for two seasons (1960–62). At St. John's he played under coach Joe Lapchick, who would be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1966. Before accepting Loughery, Lapchick called BC coach Dino Martin to see if he was agreeable to the transfer, and Martin confirmed Loughery was a good and cooperative boy who was simply anxious to come home.
During his two years at St. John's, the team was 41–10. Loughery averaged 10.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in 25 games in the 1960–61 season. St. John's was 20–5 and won the Metropolitan New York Conference championship. His teammates included LeRoy Ellis, with whom he would play in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Baltimore Bullets.
Loughery averaged 15.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game as a senior (1961–62). St. John's was 21–5 that season, and again first in the Metropolitan New York Conference. In the 1961–62 season, Ellis led the Metropolitan New York Conference in scoring and rebounding, and Loughery ranked seventh in points per game. St. John's was invited to play in the 1962 National Invitation Tournament (NIT), and reached the championship game against Dayton. St. John's defeated Holy Cross in the first round, 80–74; Loughery scoring 14 points. St. John's defeated Duquesne in the second round, 75–65; Loughery scoring 18 points. They lost to Dayton 73–67 in the championship game. Loughery led St. John's with 26 points in that game.
Professional career Loughery's nickname during his playing and coaching days was "Murph".
Detroit Pistons and Baltimore Bullets The Detroit Pistons selected Loughery in the second round of the 1962 NBA draft (13th overall). Loughery spent 11 seasons in the NBA (1962–1973), playing for the Pistons, the Baltimore Bullets, and the Philadelphia 76ers, almost nine of them with the Bullets. After spending 1962–63 with the Pistons, Detroit traded him early in the 1963-64 season to the Bullets for Larry Staverman. As a rookie in Detroit, he averaged less than 15 minutes a game, with a scoring average below seven points. He played in only one game for the Pistons the following season before the trade.
Loughery credits former Bullets and Naismith Hall of Fame coach Bobby "Slick" Leonard with giving Loughery a chance to prove himself in the NBA. After going to the Bullets early in the 1963–64 season, Loughery played in 65 games. He was a reserve shooting guard behind Rod Thorn. Loughery averaged 22.4 minutes, 9.2 points, and 2.8 assists per game for the Bullets that season. The Bullets and Pistons made a multiplayer trade before the 1964–65 season, that invovled among other players Thorn going to Detroit and guard Don Ohl coming to Baltimore. Loughery became the starting point guard next to Ohl that season. Loughery played in all 80 games, averaging 30.2 minutes, 12.8 points, 3.7 assists, and 2.9 rebounds per game.
In the first round of the 1965 NBA playoffs against the St. Louis Hawks, he averaged 21.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, and four assists; playing 37 minutes per game. He led the Bullets in assists and was second only to Ohl's 22 points per game in scoring. The Bullets then lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games in the Western Division finals. Loughery split time at point guard with Wali Jones during that series, averaging 8.8 points and 2.3 assists per game. The Bullets' strategy in alternating both Loughery and Jones during a game was to increase the defensive pressure on the Lakers future Hall of Fame guard Jerry West. This was unsuccessful as West averaged 46.3 points per game in the series.
Loughery started at guard for the Bullets with Ohl again in 1965–66, playing in 74 games. He averaged 33.2 minutes, 18.2 points, 4.8 assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game. The Bullets lost in three games to the St. Louis Hawks in the first round of the 1966 NBA playoffs. Loughery was injured and of limited availability during that series, averaging only nine minutes and three points per game. In 1966–67, he averaged nearly 34 minutes per game over 76 games. He once again averaged 18.2 points per game, playing alongside Ohl.
The following season (1967–68) the nearly 32-year old Ohl was the oldest player on a team with a number of other capable younger guards, and the Bullets traded him to the Hawks in January 1968. More importantly for Loughery and the Bullets, future Hall of Fame guard Earl Monroe joined the Bullets in 1967–68. Monroe averaged nearly 37 minutes and 24.3 points per game, in being named the NBA's Rookie of the Year. Loughery played in 77 games, averaging nearly 30 minutes and 16 points per game that season.
Loughery's best scoring seasons came in 1968–69 (22.6) and 1969–70 (21.9), teaming in Baltimore's backcourt with Monroe. These two Bullets' teams also included Hall of Famers Wes Unseld and Gus Johnson. In 1968–69, Loughery was second on the team to Monroe in scoring and assists (4.8 per game), and 11th in the NBA in scoring average. Unseld was both the NBA Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year that season, and the Bullets had a 57–25 record, finishing first in the NBA's Eastern Division. However, Bullets' All-Star forward Gus Johnson, who had been averaging 17.9 points and 11.6 rebounds per game had left knee surgery in February of 1969, and did not play the rest of the season. The Bullets were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the New York Knicks. Loughery averaged 43.3 minutes and 5.3 assists per game in that series, the most of any Bullets' player. He averaged 20.3 points per game (second to Monroe's 28.3) and 4.5 rebounds per game.
In the 1969–70 season, Loughery's 21.9 points per game was again second to Monroe on the Bullets, and Loughery led the team with 5.3 assists per game. He averaged 37 minutes per game, but played in only 55 games. Loughery suffered torn tendons during a November 18 game against the San Diego Rockets and did not play again until December 17. In a game against the Milwaukee Bucks on February 25, 1970, Loughery received a knee to the chest from Bucks' center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor). Loughery was hospitalized in Milwaukee, and then in Baltimore, with four fractured ribs and punctured lung, and did not play during the remainder of the regular season.
The Bullets played the New York Knicks again in the Eastern Division semifinals, during the 1970 NBA playoffs; losing in seven games to the eventual 1970 NBA champions. Loughery played in all seven games despite his significant injuries. He initially wore a steel jacket/metal corset to protect his ribs and lung. Loughery played 23 minutes with seven points in Game 1 and 21 minutes with five points in Game 2.
After losing the first two games in the series, Loughery helped lead the Bullets to a Game 3 win, 127–113. Between the first and second quarters of Game 3, Monroe helped Loughery remove the metal corset. Bullets coach Gene Shue was concerned about the risk to Loughery, but left the decision up to Loughery. Loughery scored 17 points in 19 minutes in that game; including the last seven points in the third quarter to give the Bullets a 10-point lead, and then six more to start the fourth quarter. Knicks coach Red Holzman later said the Knicks were not prepared for that kind of offensive performance from Loughery. Loughery said "Getting rid of the harness was the difference". He had been fearful in driving for a layup, as to what might happen, but after his first layup he gained confidence.
Loughery had 16 points in 28 minutes in a Game 5 loss, and 11 points in 25 minutes in Game 7. Holzman later said "I had to admire Loughery. He had discarded his protective brace and took a great risk to play at all. He had a visible scar on his chest where they had gone in to repair a punctured lung. He could have punctured it again but played anyway".
Loughery played in all 82 games for the Bullets in their 1970–71 season. He averaged 27.6 minutes per game; with reserve guards Eddie Miles and Fred Carter both averaging over 22 minutes per game; Monroe averaging over 35 minutes per game. Loughery averaged 15.1 points and 3.7 assists per game that season. The Bullets defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the 1971 NBA playoffs, in seven games. Loughery averaged 34.9 minutes, 19.6 points, and five assists per game. He led the Bullets with 27 points in their Game 2 win; had 21 points in a Game 3. win.
Loughery was slowed by a bruised heel in the ensuing Eastern Division Finals against the Knicks, which the Bullets won in seven games. Gus Johnson was also injured during that series. Loughery missed one game entirely; and averaged only 23.2 minutes and 8.3 points per game in the other six games; and Johnson only played in parts of two games. Fred Carter stepped in as the starting guard next to Monroe and averaged 40.3 minutes, 16.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, and two assists per game against the Knicks; and hit the series clinching shot near the end of Game 7. The Bullets were swept by the Milwaukee Bucks in four games in the 1971 NBA Finals. Loughery played in all four games and averaged 29.3 minutes and 11.3 points per game.
Two games into the 1971–72 season, on October 17, 1971, the Bullets traded Loughery and Carter to the Philadelphia 76ers for Archie Clark, a 1973 second-round selection (19th overall–Louie Nelson), and cash."76ers Deal Clark to Bullets For Loughery and Carter," The Associated Press (AP), Sunday, October 17, 1971. Retrieved March 16, 2022.1973 NBA Draft Pick Transactions, April 24 – Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
From 1963 to 1972, Loughery played in 591 regular season games for the Bullets. He averaged 31.6 minutes, 16.6 points, four assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game; with 9,833 points and 2,363 assists. In 41 playoff games for Baltimore, he averaged 28 minutes, 12.9 points, 2.7 assists, and 2.6 rebounds per game. He is sixth all-time in franchise history in games played and total points (through 2025–26).
Philadelphia 76ers