Oct 23, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray (5) during warmups before the game against the Chicago Bulls at Smoothie King Center. Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

NBA Star Dejounte Murray Reveals Harsh Truth on Injury-Riddled Season

Originally posted on New Orleans Pelicans on SI
By Matt Guzman | Last updated Jun 17, 2025 7:10 PM ET

Dejounte Murray strongly associates New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina. At the time, the point guard was just a few weeks shy of turning 9 years old growing up in the South End area of Seattle.

His first thought when Katrina made landfall? "Man, I'll never go there."

Murray eventually found his way to the NBA, first joining Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs as they looked to extend their championship window beyond Tim Duncan's retirement. Five years there yielded no such success, however, so Murray was moved to Atlanta for Danilo Gallinari, three first-round picks and a first-round pick swap.

Given Trae Young's monopoly of the guard position, Murray found it hard to carve out a role for himself; his only prior experience saw him leading the charge for a young team without a superstar.

"They should have never done that," Murray said on a recent podcast appearance. "They were figuring out what they were doing."

Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Murray's reservations eventually led to his departure from the Hawks. He was traded to New Orleans for a slew of young talent and a pair of first-round picks, manifesting his fear of living in Louisiana.

To him, that trade "wasn't even supposed to happen."

"They traded me, but (New Orleans) wasn't a team we were talking to," Murray said. "That wasn't even an option."

Dejounte Murray on his first year with the Pelicans:

"I'm mad, I’m stressed, I’m mad every day, I’m sad, I’m angry, I don't want to be there at that time"

Hopefully he can bounce back next season

h/t @Impatientbull

pic.twitter.com/vKV7UquEK7
— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) June 17, 2025

Murray soon accepted his new reality in New Orleans, even comparing it to his time in San Antonio when he was "in the driver's seat." Next to a duo of Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, that was the silver lining,

"I get to make decisions for everybody in this room," he said.

The pairing didn't work out well for him, nor the Pelicans, however. Thirty-one games into the year, Murray tore his ACL and was ruled out for the season before he, Ingram and Williamson had the chance to play together.

Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

"This is probably the worst experience (I've had) in the NBA." Murray said. "Nothing but love for New Orleans ... I don't bad-mouth anybody. But this is my experience."

Murray is still recovering from his injury and will likely miss the start of next season, but with a return on the horizon, he and the Pelicans will try and make up for lost time.

Perhaps their main goal should be to make Murray's experience slightly better.