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New Orleans Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray recently revealed a deeply personal story involving former San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, highlighting the Hall of Famer’s impact beyond basketball. During his appearance on The Pivot Podcast, Murray shared that Popovich once tried to relocate his mother to San Antonio after she was shot during his rookie season with the Spurs.
Murray explained that Popovich served as a father figure to him during his early years in the league.
“So for me, he was like a father figure. There’s so many stories — if he were able to sit here and talk, he’d tell you: he’s never had a player come into his office and cry on his shoulder about how many murders he had to deal with back home in Seattle, how many funerals I had to pay for,” Murray said. “It was so crazy — a lot of my people don’t even know this. From family, friends, and the penitentiary… Pop didn’t want me to go to Seattle. When I first got drafted, I wouldn’t go to Seattle. And that was a man who cared about me. That was a man who wanted me to reach my full potential in life first — then as a basketball player.”
Murray,28, was selected 29th overall by the Spurs in the 2016 NBA Draft and played six seasons with the franchise. During his time in San Antonio, he earned an All-Star nod in 2022 and led the NBA in steals that season. He was also named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2018.
Dejounte Murray recalls Spurs coach Gregg Popovich’s support after his mother was shot
Speaking further, Murray described the extent of Popovich’s support during a traumatic moment in his rookie year.
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“He’s so real. He tried to move my mom to San Antonio with his own money after she got shot. My mom was shot in the leg my rookie year. He called her himself — without me knowing until after the fact. ‘We want to move you here.’ No — not with his money, with my money. That sounds like a dude that cares about me and loves me, right?”
Popovich, who stepped down as head coach and now serves as the Spurs’ President of Basketball Operations, remains widely respected for his leadership both on and off the court. Murray praised not only his accolades but also his personal care for those he coached.
“’Cause I’m a fan just like everybody else is a fan. This is Gregg Popovich. Won five championships. How many players has he helped outside of basketball? Just these conversations, just the hug — like: ‘I love you. I care about you,’” Murray said. “So to see him tell my mother those things — and even him telling me, ‘I just did that because I care about you. I care about her, and I know what bringing your mom to San Antonio where she’s safe would do for you — mentally.’ Just mentally. We didn’t even get to the basketball part. That’s what I took from that. He cared about me. He loved me — with his actions, not just his words.”
Murray also reflected on his injury-riddled 2024-25 season with the Pelicans, in which he played just 31 games. He averaged 17.5 points, 7.4 assists, 6.5 rebounds, and two steals per game while shooting 39.3% from the field.
“It was a situation where, like, I got all these problems going on… I broke my hand, I'm recovering. My mom had a stroke, one of my cousins got killed, then my uncle overdosed… [During all this] I'm not getting what I need in the organization. It's hard for me to get my training time. It's hard for me to get lifts. It's hard for me to get my own court time. So, you can only imagine where my mental was at.”
