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Dejounte Murray: Once you get in that door, I feel like it's harder to stay in them doors, because the health side, the character side, you get access to all these things and the lifestyle, the real world, and just a bunch of distractions. And when you're in high school, college, you don't really have those distractions and the access to the things you got as a pro. It takes real discipline. And I just keep a balance, keep the main thing the main thing. And for me, it's loving my family, believing in God, and just working for everything I got and want. So it's no difference. Young, old, it doesn't matter. I was just telling my brothers and stuff not too long ago... I'm 29 years old. In the real world, that's young. But coming into the NBA at 18, you look at it like, goddamn.
Dejounte Murray: Tearing my Achilles was a bad, negative thing, but it's like, how can you turn it into a positive? You could be motivation for other humans, other athletes, for what it takes to get back up. You fall down, you get back up. So for me it was easy, but you obviously got the mental part, where I love basketball, and it really is my life. And it's like that gets taken away temporarily. So that was the challenge in the first month or two, but once I beat that, it was easy from there.
Dejounte Murray: Obviously, the Achilles, I feel like is the harder one, and I'll only say that because when I couldn't do any calf raises, you kind of feel like it's over. You do, I don't even know the number of calf raises you do, like, even to this day I'm doing calf raises today. You see your calf get small, and then you can't do a calf raise in month two, and it's just like, 'Damn, it's over'. And again, it's all mental, right? That's just the process. Once you read up on the Achilles and you learn about the injury and why the injury happens and all these different things, it's like the only thing is to learn and enjoy your process and go through your process. My process was different from a bunch of guys, just like theirs was different from mine. And it's just like, that's for sure the hardest one, because I was hopping everywhere; I'm on a scooter, you can't walk. But at the end of the day, I attacked everything like no other. And I'll continue to do that.
Dejounte Murray: You can't focus on other people. Obviously, you got fans and media and all these things that come with being a professional athlete, or an athlete in general. But the moment you start focusing on whether people are sleeping on you or they're saying great things about you, when you focus on those things, you lose automatically. It's over. Nobody should impact how your day goes or dictate what you're gonna be or anything. For me, it ain't never about proving nobody wrong. It's really just proving myself right. So, of course, I'm human. I got hurt; I tore my Achilles. Like, I think it should be celebrated how hard we work to get back on our feet. When I was watching Dame [Lillard] and Tyrese [Haliburton] and Jayson Tatum's process, as well as mine, it's like, nah, we're human. But that's the thing that comes with being a pro, being in the NBA. It's like you don't get looked at as a human. You're above a human, which is crazy.
Dejounte Murray: GREATEST POINT GUARD EVER!!!! 🖤
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"You're sitting next to Zion there, you guys are the veteran leaders now of this group. How do you feel like you can lead the two of you this Pelicans squad this year?" Dejounte Murray: "You got to lead by example. You got to be on time, you got to be the ultimate pro, put your work in day in, day out, take care of your body. Those unseen hours, when you're in your hotel room, when you're on the recovery table, you got to take care of yourself so we're available. The best ability is availability, and I understand that. Hopefully Zion understand that. He's doing really great, I think he feels the same way of just being healthy and being with whoever he's working with and just trying to be consistent and put the work in. We're going to need everybody, it's not about one, two, or three guys, you're going to need the whole organization."
Trae Young: "I can play multiple ways. A lot of people just see what I've done and me being ball-dominant. I can't wait to show other things. My boy Dejounte Murray, who's with me 24/7, he was my point guard for a lot of years and I was just a shooter. I didn't do nothing but just shoot the ball. So I can't wait to show that. But also, yes, you can win with a smaller guard, of course. It's been done before."
New Balance executive Chris Davis: If you look at the NBA, I’m pretty sure we have seven or eight All-Stars, starting with Kawhi (Leonard) to Zach LaVine, Tyrese Maxey, Jamal Murray, Dejounte Murray, Darius Garland, and then enter Cooper Flagg. In this year’s draft, we have Caleb Wilson, who is a star freshman from North Carolina and will be a top-five pick. And then as a senior in high school, we have Jordan Smith Jr., who’s the top recruit in the country going into the NCAA; he’s committed to Arkansas. So that’s what the basketball landscape looks like.
The Pelicans have listed Dejounte Murray (left hand contusion) as questionable for Sunday's game against Orlando. Karlo Matkovic (low back spasms) and Trey Murphy (right ankle sprain) are also questionable.
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Pelicans PR: Injury Update: 3.29 vs Houston: Dejounte Murray (Left Hand Contusion) is AVAILABLE, Trey Murphy (Right Ankle Sprain) is OUT
Jordan Howenstine: Stephon Castle just moved into the Top 5 in Spurs history in triple-doubles: 1. Dejounte Murray - 17 2. David Robinson - 14 3. Alvin Robertson - 8 4. Johnny Moore - 6 5. Tim Duncan - 4 Victor Wembanyama - 4 Stephon Castle - 4
Josh Lewenberg: I asked Jamal Shead about Dejounte Murray sitting out. To little surprise, he took the high road. Said it didn't matter, they just need a win. And yes, after what the Pelicans did to them a couple weeks ago + the way their road trip ended in LA, they shouldn't be lacking for motivation
