Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray is one of the best two-way players in the league and truly takes pride in his ability to shut down opponents. While playing for the San Antonio Spurs under Gregg Popovich helped shape him into a defensive menace, it was actually Kawhi Leonard who urged Murray to take pride in his defense.
The former University of Washington standout recently appeared on Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson's All The Smoke podcast and explained how Kawhi mentored him and made the 26-year-old into the player he is today.
“Kawhi is the reason why I made that all-defensive team my second year. He came to me and he was like bro, don't worry about getting 15, 20 points, go make the all-defensive team. He told me that Year 2, I guarantee if you make that, now you'll get on the court, defense gets you on the court, especially in San Antonio, so go make that all-defensive team now you stamped yourself. You can play D, so now they gotta have you on the floor. So if you on the floor, your ass gonna have to be able to play offense too”
Dejounte Murray also revealed how Leonard's unmatched work ethic, despite already having all the accolades imaginable, motivated him to be better every day.
“Other than that, I watched him show up every single day. Off days, game days, before, all of that, putting in work, 20 or 30 minutes. That's all he wanted to do. So for me, this MF a Finals MVP, DPOY, All-Star, but he's in the gym like he ain't got none of that. So i saw that and was like I got no excuse be.”
Murray barely saw any playing time in his rookie year in 2016-17 but that immediately changed in 2017-18 after watching Kawhi, seeing his minutes more than double. Of course, Leonard ultimately left for the Toronto Raptors in the summer of 2018, but not without leaving his imprint on the Spurs organization and most importantly, Dejounte Murray.
The Kawhi effect.
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