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Knicks Legend, Larry Johnson once played Houston Rockets legend, Calvin Murphy in a Payless store when he was a teenager.
Murphy made the NBA All-Rookie team in 1971 and over the course of his career, spent all in a Rocket uniform.
While there, he averaged 17.9 points per game and ended his career with a total of 17,949 points.
In the postseason, Murphy shone even brighter as he averaged 18.5 points in 51 playoff games.
“I was like 14 years old,” Larry Johnson told Scoop B Radio.
“My mom was there. He was passing by, the shoe store. I don’t know if ya’ll know Payless. He had a big ‘ol sign with it and it said it was Calvin Murphy. And I was taller than him at the time. Of course, I was 14 and Calvin was a guard and I think he let me win.”
According to NBA.com: Murphy’s best season was 1977-78. He averaged 25.6 ppg. He ranks third in the NBA record book for consecutive free throws made (78) and first for seasonal percentage mark hitting on 206 of 215 attempts for a .958 percentage both achieved in the 1980-81 campaign. He led the NBA in free throw percentage twice and finished among the top five eight other times.
A native of Dallas, Texas, Johnson was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets as the 1st pick in the 1991 NBA Draft out of UNLV.
He believes that Murphy’s connection to the city runs deep and he spoke reverently about local Texas athletes like Roger Staubach and others being influential to his growth and being the blueprint on how to be a positive athlete.
Larry Johnson is beloved by New York City for his heroics.
Remember his four point play against the Indiana Pacers?
Johnson took one dribble left, absorbed contact from Antonio Davis and launched a three-pointer. The whistle blew and the shot went in; tying the game at 91 apiece.
Johnson hit the free throw and gave the Knicks a 2-1 lead in the series.
For Those Too Young Or Just Tardy To The Party, Check Out Johnson’s Legendary Play
“This is New York, man and everywhere I go here, it’s like I’m a legend,” Larry Johnson told Scoop B Radio.
“I done took the nickname Larry Legend.”
Johnson is beloved by all in NYC for that play.
“I didn’t think I was that old, really,” he said.
“But that’s what cats have been calling me simply because I believe, the four point play. It’s just one play. It’s the greatest play, I’ve had. I’ve had some pretty good moments in this game: winning a championship in college, being the number one, but making a four point play against one of our arch rivals at Madison Square Garden, that was the craziest.”