What’s going on between the San Antonio Spurs and Dejounte Murray?
By Dylan Carter
It’s been strange times for the San Antonio Spurs and it’s becoming evident that point guard Dejounte Murray is getting frustrated.
Not everything is as peachy as San Antonio Spurs fans hoped it’d be upon the return of point guard Dejounte Murray. Though he’s shown great signs of growth, the 23-year-old is shooting poorly on the season and still displays a lot of the clumsiness that he did prior to his injury. This resulted in a roster change by Gregg Popovich, citing combo guard Derrick White’s presence as calming for the starting lineup.
Murray was visibly upset during the Spurs’ most recent loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. The young guard played only 21 minutes and struggled mightily, turning the ball over four times while making just two of his six shots with no defensive stats. Maybe White is calming for the starting five, but Murray is in disarray coming off the bench.
Sacrificing for the greater good of the team is the Spurs way and Murray will certainly have the opportunity to work his way back into the starting five, but it’s going to take a concentrated effort. Regardless of what’s going on right now, there’s little doubt that Dejounte is the Spurs’ starting point guard of the future and will be the face of the franchise for years to come.
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Signing a four-year extension in the offseason and a sneaker deal with New Balance in the process, Murray is on his way to stardom, but he cannot rush the process. Getting benched is not a testament to his ability or the team’s trust in him, but instead, a tweak made to help a reeling team discover it’s identity.
Still, the minutes restriction and complete reconstruction of the team’s makeup has been disruptive for Murray’s growth and isn’t making the return process any easier for a player who fought against the odds to return to peak form.
As an unmitigated leader and signal of hope for a reeling franchise still suffering from the loss of arguably the league’s best player in Kawhi Leonard, Murray is having a hard time adjusting to the new norm. He’s become accustomed to winning basketball and wants to do everything in his power to bring another championship to San Antonio after they took a chance on him in 2016.
In due time, Murray will regain his starting spot and help the Spurs get back to their winning ways. However, he can’t rush the process – these things take time and so will his gradual yet inevitable growth.