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Ex-Rockets star Murphy denies molesting daughters
Former basketball star Calvin Murphy took the stand in a Texas court on Thursday to deny charges he sexually molested five of his daughters.
Wiping tears from his eyes, Murphy, 56, answered in direct, clipped phrases to questions from his lawyer, Rusty Hardin, as to whether he was guilty of the three charges against him.
"Absolutely not," Murphy said.
The Houston sports icon and National Basketball Association Hall of Fame member was charged in March with molesting his daughters between 1988 and 1991 when they ranged in age from 6 to 13.
Prosecutors questioned Murphy on his decision to keep secret his relationship to the girls, who did not call him "dad."
"I asked them to call me Calvin," Murphy said.
Prosecutors have said Murphy, who fathered 14 children with nine women, ordered his children to never publicly acknowledge their relationship.
He was first accused of sexual abuse in 1994 by one of his daughters, although she later recanted.
Murphy's lawyers have said he was the victim of a family money dispute tied to his late wife, who was killed in a 1996 car wreck.
Murphy's defense is expected to close on Friday, and the case is likely to go to the jury on Monday.
The 5-feet 9-inch (1.75-meter) sharpshooter played in the NBA from 1970 to 1983, averaging 17.9 points a game, before he retired and became a popular television announcer for the Houston Rockets.
He took a leave of absence from his television job after the charges were made.
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