(Photo: Stephen Lew)
NEW ORLEANS – Dejounte Murray is no chump.
He spent more than a year recovering and rehabilitating from surgery to repair his ruptured right Achilles. He made his season debut Tuesday night with a New Orleans Pelicans team that entered the game with the second-worst record in the Western Conference (16-42).
“I could have sat out and been a chump. Like, ‘Nah, I’m not playing. I’m gonna get my money and I’m gonna get more rest, more recovery,’” Murray said on the eve of his return. “But I’m the opposite of that.
“I love the game, and I put myself in a position to be able to say I want to go out and play for not only my family and organization, but also the city of New Orleans. I feel like my best basketball is ahead of me because of my mentality. I don’t care about the money, I don’t care about the fame, the lifestyle. I love this game, and I’m gonna get everything I can out of this game until it’s over.”
Murray’s team will soon be mathematically eliminated from playoff and play-in contention, but as a team leader he saw a significant opportunity in the remaining 23 games after New Orleans defeated Golden State 113-109 in the Smoothie King Center.
“That’s a lot of a lot of games to be able to see some great basketball, create great winning habits on and off the floor,” Murray said. “I’m just trying to go out there, be myself, have fun, but also just bring that positivity, that playing hard, play together, play the right way, spirit to the team.
“Each game is a championship game to me. I want to put that in my teammate’s heads, and you go out there and win games and do it the right way. You give yourself a chance, whatever that looks like, and it builds momentum going into the offseason.”
Murray unquestionably would have been the Pelicans’ starting point guard had he been healthy, but interim head coach James Borrego said it was “not an easy decision” to start Murray against the Warriors.
That’s because the team entered Tuesday’s game in the midst of their best stretch of the season, having gone 6-6 since Borrego switched to a starting lineup that didn’t feature a true point guard. The Pelicans had split the first two games after the All-Star Break even with leading scorer Trey Murphy III sidelined by a shoulder injury.
The coach finally decided that having Murray’s poise, leadership and defensive presence on the floor at the opening tip would be a wise move, and rookie center Derik Queen came off the bench after 45 consecutive starts.
It paid off.
Borrego drew up a play for Murray on the first possession and DeAndre Jordan fed Murray for a layup. New Orleans’ defense was outstanding in the first quarter, which ended with the home team holding a 31-19 lead.
Murray wound up playing nearly 25 minutes, which aligned with the sweet spot of the minutes restriction negotiated by the coach, the point guard and the team’s medical staff. Murray had 13 points (making 5 of 11 field-goal attempts, 1 of 4 3-pointers and both of his free throws), three assists, two rebounds, one steal and five turnovers.
“I felt good, and I felt like I was active,” Murray said. “The win is what matters. I’m hungry. I’m starving.”
When New Orleans traded four players and two first-round picks to Atlanta to acquire Murray in June of 2024, it brought in a true point guard, a leader, a top-notch defender, an above-average backcourt rebounder, scorer, shooter and finisher.
Murray wasn’t able to have the impact that was projected last season because he played in just 31 games, injuring the Achilles after returned from a fractured left hand suffered on opening night.
But on his opening night this season he showed the ability to close, along with some understandable rust. Borrego pulled him with 5:01 remaining and the Pelicans holding an eight-point lead so he could bring him back for the finish without exceeding the minutes restriction.
New Orleans still had an eight-point lead when Murray returned with 2:55 left. He committed a turnover, missed a jumper and committed a foul as the visitors crept within three points. But Murray scored on a drive with 1:04 left, snared a rebound after a Warriors miss and made two free throws for the winners’ final points.
“He looked like his old self,” Borrego said, “and he’s only going to get better from here.”
Murray’s return and the victory set off a raucous celebration in the Pelicans’ locker room, though Murray was quick to say, “I’m ready for the next game.”
The next game comes Thursday night in Utah as New Orleans begins a six-game road trip.
“Every game is a championship game,” Murray said. “Let’s get better, give the fans what they want – their money’s worth, a team worth watching. That’s just going out there and competing on both ends, playing together, playing with passion and pride and wanting success for your brother.”
Among the many ways that Murray, who will turn 30 shortly before next season starts, can uplift the Pelicans as they wind down such a poor season, is to serve as a mentor to 19-year-old rookie point guard Jeremiah Fears, the seventh pick in last summer’s draft.
“He’s the future,” Murray said of Fears. “He’s going to be great. My job is to continue to be a pro, work on my game and show him what it looks like.”
Borrego was an assistant coach in San Antonio when the Spurs selected Murray with the 29th pick in the first round of the 2016 draft.
“Dejounte was Fears back in the day,” Borrego said. “There was a guy named Tony Parker in San Antonio. He was the starter. He was a champion. Dejounte was very raw. He was new to the NBA, and he’s thrown into San Antonio, where the expectation is to win championships every year, nothing less.”
Borrego said Murray experienced “growing pains” while head coach Gregg Popovich, who has the most victories in NBA history, “was on his tail from minute one.”
“He just kept plugging away,” Borrego said of the rookie Murray. “You could see he was a resilient kid, very tough, believed in himself.”
Murray said he and Borrego “had a great relationship” in San Antonio and they have “an even better relationship now.”
“I’m excited to go play hard for him because everybody’s being evaluated,” Murray said. “He’s being evaluated for this. So we want to go through a brick wall for him, to put him in a great position, whether it’s here or elsewhere. Hopefully it’s here.”
Last summer Murray made comments on a podcast that triggered speculation that he didn’t want to be here. He spoke at length about how difficult his first year in New Orleans was. His mother suffered a stroke during training camp and in addition to his injuries he had to deal with the death of a cousin and an uncle’s overdose.
He suggested the Pelicans weren’t as supportive as they should have been through all the difficulties. He called it his worst year in the NBA.
When asked about those comments this week he spoke much more positively.
“I have a great relationship with the guys in the front office,” he said. “I love New Orleans. I love the people. They’re the reason I’m coming back. I see the fans and this city as passionate. They’re loving, they’re caring. They’ll get behind you if you show that you’re the same.”
He added that he feels “great mentally, physically, spiritually.”
“I’m in a really great place,” he added, “the greatest place I’ve been in a long time, on and off the floor.”
Murray’s return comes at a time when the team has little within its reach that is tangible: No realistic post-season prospects for this season, no first-round draft choice in the summer, uncertainty over who will be the head coach next season.
But Murray sees plenty that can be accomplished.
“I want to go represent Dejounte Murray and my Murray Family,” he said, “but I also want to represent New Orleans. I want to give the fans something to want to come to the games and have fun. When they go home, they can say, ‘that’s my team, and that’s New Orleans.’”
Only a chump couldn’t see the value in that.