The New Orleans Pelicans have had a rough season and continue to stumble in the standings, but have been looking forward to the return of guard Dejounte Murray.

On January 31, 2025, Dejounte Murray suffered a torn right Achilles tendon in the Pelicans game against the Boston Celtics. Murray played just eight minutes and nine seconds before going down with the injury.

After missing 13 months with the Achilles tear and working hard to return, the Pelicans guard made his season debut and return from the injury on Tuesday night, when the Pelicans hosted the Golden State Warriors inside the Smoothie King Center.

In a tremendous show of respect, the Pelicans reorganized their starting lineup to mention Dejounte Murray last in the group as the crowd cheered him on.

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On the first play of the game, center DeAndre Jordan found Murray cutting from the left corner with a bounce pass. Murray made an acrobatic reverse layup, giving him his first basket back since the injury.

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Dejounte Murray played five minutes in his first stint before checking out of the game to a nice ovation from Pelicans fans. Murray finished with four points on 2-of-3 shooting from the field.

Murray had been ramping up over the last few weeks, but appeared to have some of his athleticism back as soon as six months after the Achilles surgery. The Pelicans guard actually posted a video at the six-month mark of his recovery throwing down a reverse dunk with relative ease.

Since becoming a full-time starter in the 2020 season, Dejounte Murray has averaged 18.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 45.5 percent from the field. If Murray can get back to form quickly, it could make for either an intriguing part of of the Pelicans rebuild or a great trade piece for a team missing an athletic, do-it-all guard.