Melvin Turpin
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 28, 1960 Washington Bullets |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
Points | 3,071 (8.5 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 1,655 (4.6 rpg) |
| Blocks | 348 (1.0 bpg) |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Melvin Harrison Turpin (December 28, 1960 – July 8, 2010) was an American professional basketball player. He played five seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was an All-American college player at the University of Kentucky, where as a senior he led the Wildcats to the 1984 Final Four.
Basketball career
A 6'11" center, Turpin was born in Lexington, Kentucky and attended Fork Union Military Academy in Fork Union, Virginia from 1979 to 1980. He was FUMA's most valuable player for the postgraduate squad under coach Fletcher Arritt, also being voted the number one player in the state for varsity basketball; he averaged 19 points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots, being inducted into the Fork Union Military Academy Hall of Fame in 2000.[1]
At the
In
During his National Basketball Association spell, 361 regular season games brought him averages of 8 points and nearly 5 rebounds. In 1988–89, before his last season altogether, he played in Spain with CAI Zaragoza, later being exchanged to the Jazz for José Ortiz.
Death
During the 2000s, Turpin worked as a security guard.[4] On July 8, 2010, he died by suicide in his Lexington home from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The reason for his suicide was never determined, and it was never made public if he left a suicide note. He was 49 years old at the time of his death.[5]
References
- ^ FUMA Sports Hall of Fame Archived September 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine; Fork Union
- ^ A sea of blue
- ^ Biggest draft busts
- ^ a b "Lost & Found; Sports Illustrated, July 12, 2004
- ^ Coroner: Turpin committed suicide; ESPN, July 9, 2010