Kristopher James Murray (born August 19, 2000) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 20 sports, 7 for men and 13 for women; The teams participate in Division I of the Nati ...

of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

from 2020 to 2023. He was first-team All-Big Ten in his final year with the Hawkeyes. He is the twin brother of basketball player

Keegan Murray Keegan Murray (born August 19, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball, Iowa Hawkeyes before h ...

, who plays for the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

Early life and high school career

Murray grew up in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...

and attended Prairie High School, where he played basketball with his twin brother Keegan as a teammate. He was named first team All-Metro and second team All-State after averaging 19.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.5 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game. Following graduation, Murray and his brother enrolled at

DME Academy DME Academy DME Academy is a private sports training and educational institution located in Daytona Beach, Florida. Established in 2015 by Mike and Dan Panaggio, the academy offers comprehensive programs for middle school, high school, and post- ...

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach is a coastal Resort town, resort city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. Located on the East Coast of the United States, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Deltona� ...

for a

postgraduate year A postgraduate (PG) year is an extra year of secondary coursework at a boarding school following high school graduation, but before entering college. It is a gap year option intended for students who either have not applied or were not admitt ...

. Both brothers committed to playing college basketball for

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

College career

Murray played in 13 games, all off the bench, and 41 total minutes as a freshman for the Iowa Hawkeyes. As a sophomore, he averaged 9.7 points and 4.3 rebounds over 35 games with one start. Following the end of the season, Murray entered the

2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New ...

after his brother had already done so. He ultimately withdrew his name from the draft shortly after declining an invitation to the NBA Draft Combine. Murray entered his junior season at Iowa on the watchlists for the

Karl Malone Award The Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate power forward. Following the success of the Bob Cousy Award which had been awarded s ...

and the

John R. Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The Wooden Award program consists of the men's and women's player of the year awards, the Legends of Coaching Award, and rec ...

. He averaged 20.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2 assists per game and was named first-team All-

at the end of the season. Murray was also named a third-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

United States Basketball Writers Association The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 with the urging of National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The U ...

, and the ''

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

''. After the season, he entered the

2023 NBA draft The 2023 NBA draft, the 77th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on June 22, 2023, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The draft consisted of 58 picks instead of the typical 60 for the second ...

, where he was selected 23rd overall by the

Professional career

Portland Trail Blazers (2023–present)

Murray was selected by the

in the first round of the

with the 23rd overall pick and on July 1, 2023, he signed with the Blazers. He scored back-to-back career-highs in points in consecutive games against the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

on March 20 and March 22, posting 17 and then 21 points.

Career statistics

NBA

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Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

, 62 , , 29 , , 21.7 , , .396 , , .268 , , .661 , , 3.6 , , 1.3 , , .9 , , .3 , , 6.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 69 , , 6 , , 15.1 , , .419 , , .225 , , .456 , , 2.6 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .2 , , 4.2 , - class="sort bottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 131 , , 35 , , 28.2 , , .406 , , .251 , , .558 , , 3.1 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , .3 , , 5.1

College

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2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

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, 13 , , 0 , , 3.2 , , .231 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , .6 , , .1 , , .1 , , .1 , , .6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 35 , , 1 , , 17.9 , , .479 , , .387 , , .645 , , 4.3 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , .9 , , 9.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 29 , , 29 , , 34.9 , , .476 , , .335 , , .729 , , 8.9 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , 1.2 , , 20.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 77 , , 30 , , 31.8 , , .473 , , .348 , , .699 , , 8.0 , , 2.2 , , 1 , , 1 , , 12.1

Personal life

Murray's father, Kenyon, was a 4-year starter for the Iowa Hawkeyes from 1992 to 1996, and was high school Mr. Basketball in Michigan in 1992. Kris's twin brother Keegan was a top 5 pick in 2022 draft and currently plays for the

. Kris was named after the late

Chris Street Christopher Michael Street (February 2, 1972 – January 19, 1993) was an American college basketball player. He played as a power forward for the Iowa Hawkeyes from 1990 to 1993. A potential NBA player, he died in an automobile crash during h ...

References

External links

Iowa Hawkeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Kris 2000 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Cedar Rapids, Iowa Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball players Portland Trail Blazers draft picks Portland Trail Blazers players Power forwards Rip City Remix players