Murder in the “G” Basketball League

By Richard Murphy

This is a ‘Who-dun-it’ novel about a murder of a member of the Portland, Maine Flounders organization, a minor league basketball team, affiliated with Boston’s major league team, the Shamrocks.

The Flounders were an eclectic ensemble of U.S. and foreign players, young and old, black and white, urban and city, ex-college and ex-high-school players.

The reader will be treated to a modicum of basketball strategies, enough to understand the teams’ journey to the “G” League national championship, but will not be pulled into the weeds of basketball.

The coach, Butch Baker, a farm boy who entered the Marines after graduating from Annapolis got shot in the arm from a Taliban sniper and upon recovery played several years for the Boston Shamrocks.

The tension between the team and coach is gripping as the cultures and backgrounds clash.The coach does not understand the Woke culture and is oblivious to the triggering he causes with some of his draconian remarks and actions.

The reader, teased by the title, knows a murder will happen but gets sidetracked by the personal interaction between players with players and the coach with players. The reader is attached to the wily coach, but knows his imperfections and awaits a foul play.

Suspense continues in the book until late in the game when the culprit is finally revealed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665550963

Richard Murphy

Richard Murphy is a retired Boston attorney who had served as an Assistant Attorney General (Criminal Division) and First Assistant District Attorney (Norfolk County) in addition to serving as a partner in a private law firm. He is a graduate of Boston College High School,Univ. of Notre Dame & Boston Univ. School of Law. He served aboard ship in the U.S.Navy between college and law school and retired as a Commander in the Naval Reserves.As a champion boxer at Notre Dame he went on to become a NationalPresident of the ND Alumni Association. The father of nine children, he wrote a weekly column “Murphy’s Law” for several Massachusetts papers in the 80’s & 90’s. He was featured in the Law section of Time magazine(1/7/66) for winning a landmark civil liberty case. With Parkinson’s disease and a reverse shoulder replacement ruining his mediocre golf game he decided to try authoring and having received encouraging feedback he is now attempting to write entertaining books connected to interesting court cases.

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2022 Richard Murphy. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

This is a work of Fiction.

Names, characters places, businesses, events,and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Published by AuthorHouse 03/11/2022

ISBN: 978-1-6655-5097-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-5095-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-5096-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022902401

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgement

Prologue

Chapter 1 Semifinals - Game Three

Chapter 2 Coach Butch Baker

Chapter 3 The Signing of Todd Kramer

Chapter 4 Super Bowl 51

Chapter 5 Semi-Finals Game Four Prep.

Chapter 6 Back in Massachusetts

Chapter 7 Playoff Game Four vs. The Nets

Chapter 8 Van Trip Back to Maine

Chapter 9 Baker’s Cocaine Investigation

Chapter 10 Plans Against The Santa Cruz Warriors

Chapter 11 Todd Reveals Scheme

Chapter 12 Game One - National Finals

Chapter 13 Meeting with Owner

Chapter 14 Game Two – National Finals

Chapter 15 Finals in Santa Cruz — Games 3, 4, & 5

Chapter 16 Coach Baker is Stricken

Chapter 17 The Autopsy

Chapter 18 Initial Investigation

Chapter 19 Interview of Tom Hoe

Chapter 20 Leaks to The Press

Chapter 21 Hoe’s List of Suspects

Chapter 22 Anonymous Tip

Chapter 23 Evaluation Reports

Chapter 24 Radioactive Traces

Chapter 25 Interview of Igor Zilinsky

Chapter 26 Interview of Terry Johnson

Chapter 27 Interview of Randy Wilson

Chapter 28 Interview of Jean Baker

Chapter 29 Reinterview of Todd Kramer

Chapter 30 Discussion with The U.S. Attorney

Chapter 31 Team Meeting of Investigators

Chapter 32 Black Lives Matter

Chapter 33 Interview of Tim Haley

Chapter 34 Randy Wilson Revisited

Chapter 35 Review of Hotel Videos

Chapter 36 Investigation of Tom Hoe

Chapter 37 Videos of Locker Room

Chapter 38 Saturday Meeting with Jean Baker

Chapter 39 Cars in The Driveway

Chapter 40 Tom Hoe in FBI Offices

Chapter 41 Search for an Attorney

Chapter 42 FBI’s Reaction

Chapter 43 Cuban Extradition Hearing

Chapter 44 Panel’s Decision

Chapter 45 Tom’s Next Steps

DEDICATION

T his book is dedicated to all the basketball junkies I played with or competed with from age ten to age forty-five in gyms, driveways, back yards on hardwood, asphalt, grass and dirt.

I played in basketball games in Hong Kong, Japan, Hawaii, the Philippines and Okinawa as well as in various venues in the United States, but sometimes the games in the driveway were equally thrilling, especially with my own children, some of whom played on their college teams.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

T hank you to Patty Line for her typing, computer and editing skills and to Frank Crotty for his consistent encouragement and content editing help. Huge gratitude is owed to Gwen, my wife who patiently reads my copy and offers constructive suggestions. Special thanks to my golfing buddies who allow me to take their names in vein and to my fellow FGCU basketball fans who drive together from Naples up to Alico Arena to watch decent college ball.

PROLOGUE

Chapter 1

Semifinals - Game Three

I n March 2017, Coach Butch Baker was pacing back and forth in front of the bench, sweating profusely as he nervously wiped his brow and yelled at Igor Zilinsky for committing a turnover. He called a timeout with a minute and five seconds left in the G league away playoff game. His team, the Maine Flounders, was leading by a score of 82 to 80.

The Portland Maine Flounders were the minor league team for the Boston Shamrocks. The Shamrocks, as the parent NBA club, fully owned the Flounders who were in the Eastern division of the G league. The league consisted of twenty-eight teams, each singly affiliated with an NBA team.

The coach gathered the team in a huddle and told them they needed to get a stop, but he stressed that they should not foul anyone shooting a three pointer because the Nets were the best foul shooting team in the league. The Flounders went into a zone defense as the Nets put the ball in play. The Nets’ guard passed the ball into the key, and the Nets’ center faked a drive toward the basket and then threw the ball to their sharpshooter, Barry Allen, in the corner.

The Flounders’ forward, Bob Grady, mindful of Coach Baker’s warning, made sure he did not foul Allen as he waved his long arms in the face of shooter Allen. The ball cleanly entered the hoop, and suddenly the score was 83-82 in favor of the Nets. Coach Baker called another timeout and with forty-five seconds left in the game, told his players to try and get a shot off with thirty seconds left so in case they missed, they still had time to get a rebound and another shot before the game ended. He told them to try play Double ZZ, which was designed to set up a series of picks to free up from the top of the key, Todd Kramer, their best shooter.

Kramer’s shot spun around and out of the hoop, and Igor attempted to tip the miss back in, but his tip shot was partially blocked. The Flounders lost the game, and the five-game playoff record was now Flounders - two games and Nets - one game.

The players were visibly upset with such a close loss, which meant that they had to stay two more days in New York for a Sunday game. In the locker room after the game, Bob Grady, complained to Igor Zilinsky that he should have been more aggressive in trying to block the Nets’ last three pointer and the coach had them playing too tentatively toward the end of close games. Zilinsky agreed and in broken English said, That fucker yells at me too much and just looks at my turnovers and forgets about the twelve rebounds I get per game.

Grady added, Let’s go to the Grill Room singles bar and see if we can score in another way. Let’s hope the coach doesn’t show up there.

Unfortunately, the coach and trainer, Tom Hoe, entered the Grill Room fifteen minutes later, and after acknowledging Zilinsky and Grady with nods of their heads, sat at a table thirty feet away. When the team was on the road, it was customary for the coach and the trainer to dine and party together away from team members.

A waitress came over to Zilinsky and asked him, Are you Igor?

Yes, I am, answered the seven-foot Serbian. Here is a note that the buzz-cut customer over there, she pointed at Coach Baker, asked me to deliver to you.

Thank you, dear, and while you’re here, can you bring us two Yuenglings, please?

Upon opening the note, Igor and Grady slid their chairs together and jointly read it. Do not get too comfortable, boys, practice and shoot around tomorrow at 8 a.m. followed by film study. A reminder that your curfew is 11 p.m. The two players simultaneously looked at their Rolexes, noticing it was already 10:35 p.m.

That bastard hasn’t even given us time to finish our beers. It’s interesting that he does not apply the curfew to himself or the trainer, whined Grady. Zalinski commented, He doesn’t want us observing him trying to pick up women on these road trips. He needs to keep his Boy Scout image intact. How do you Americans say it, ‘a double stand’?

I think you mean ‘a double standard,’ commented Grady who continued, Let us finish the beers and get out of here. That game exhausted me and as usual, the coach pisses me off.

As they were leaving, they noticed that the coach and the trainer were both on the dance floor with a couple of local groupies.

At 3 a.m., Coach Butch Baker woke up for a bathroom visit when he suddenly realized he was in a Long Island apartment far away from the hotel in which he and the team were staying. His lady of the night was sound asleep, so he tiptoed out of the apartment, called a cab, and hightailed it back to the team’s hotel.

Before practice that morning, he asked the trainer, Tom Hoe, What happened last night?

Tom replied, You got blotto last night, and while I was on the dance floor, I noticed the young lady assisting you out of the establishment.

Did anyone see me in that condition?

I don’t think so. The players had already left.

Well, keep it confidential. The front office would be furious with me if they found out.

Trainer Hoe thought to himself, Who’s kidding whom? The front office and all the players already know about his antics when he is at away games.

Chapter 2

Coach Butch Baker

C oach Baker, age 36, a handsome six-foot-four-inch ex- Shamrock player, was admired in Boston and Portland, Maine, because of his military background, his great hustle as a Boston Shamrock, and his ability to handle the press corps with a casual eloquence. The players were not as impressed because of his tough treatment of them and because of his aloofness in his personal interaction with them.

Butch Baker grew up on a farm in Iowa where at 5 a.m. he did heavy chores for two hours each morning before going to high school and then played a seasonal sport after school each day. His best sport was basketball where he caught the attention of the recruiters at the Naval Academy. He was a basketball star at Annapolis and had no problem keeping up with the academic requirements. In his junior year, he opted to enter the Marines rather than the Naval program at Annapolis. Upon graduation in 2005, he was sworn in as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps, but he was also drafted by the Boston Shamrocks in the second round.

He did not seek a waiver from entering the service, and after several months of training was assigned to the war in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. In 2005, there was some progress in the war and in the building of a stable government, but Secretary of Defense Robert Gates complained that progress was fragile and many of the twenty-six allies of the United States were unwilling to share the risks or commit the necessary resources.

Second Lieutenant Baker was in Afghanistan for one year when his unit, while out on patrol, was ambushed by the Taliban. Butch Baker, the platoon leader, was shot by a sniper twice on his left arm. His wounds were not life threatening, but he was flown out of Afghanistan to Landstuhl Military Hospital in Germany for his recovery. When fully recovered, the Marines did not reassign him to Afghanistan, but instead assigned him in 2006 to Camp Pendleton in California where he trained Marine recruits and played on the base basketball team. The Shamrocks were still interested in him, so he negotiated an agreement with the Defense Department that allowed him to try out for the team and if he made it, the military would waive his five-year military commitment and give him an honorable discharge after serving two-and-a-half years. Baker did make the Shamrocks team as a reserve point guard and instantly became a Boston fan favorite as a military hero who was the team’s best hustler and defender. He dove for loose balls, defended aggressively, and unselfishly took charges. He became known as the Shamrock Warrior as he reminded many fans of John Havlicek.

Butch played for the Shamrocks from 2007 until 2015, usually playing an average of twenty minutes per game with career-per- game stats of eight points, four assists, three rebounds, two steals, and virtually no turnovers.

His playing career ended suddenly when at age 32, he severely injured his right knee when he crashed into a seven-foot, two-hundred-eighty-pound center. He entered a lengthy rehab program, but when fully healed, he found he had lost more than a step in