SAN ANTONIO — Former San Antonio Spurs guard Dejounte Murray wants to make it clear, he wanted to play his entire NBA career in Silver and Black.
In an interview with Andscape.com, the former Spurs guard revealed more on how his trade from San Antonio to Atlanta developed and according to him, head coach Gregg Popovich brought it up.
“I wouldn’t say I wanted out. I wanted to be there my whole career. I love San Antonio,” Murray said. “[Popovich] brought it up. It was emotional. Obviously, there was some little trade rumors and stuff, but it didn’t get real to me and Pop. Pop would see stuff, trade interest in such and such or blah-blah or Spurs looking to trade this guy. Pop don’t get into that, no."
Murray went on to say that ultimately it came down to whether or not he wanted to stay with the Spurs as they were set on going into a full rebuild and seeing his best NBA years be wasted.
“He wanted to hear it from me. ‘Would you want to be able to go play on a bigger stage? Do you want to stay, or you want to go?’ But he also gave his opinion on if I stay, he doesn’t want me to waste my talent, waste years of not making the playoffs. So, it really came down to that.”
These recent comments follow the recent interview he did with "All The Smoke" show Matt Barnes and ex-Spur Stephen Jackson to chat about his time in the NBA and his path to becoming a pro player.
In the interview, Murray had plenty of thoughts about playing for the Spurs from saying the team played mind games with him, feeling Tony Parker did not like him getting the starting job to believing Parker should have stayed in San Antonio to mentor him.
He continued by adding how the franchise's success is the by-product of having Tim Duncan to how Duncan, Gregg Popovich, Manu Ginobili, and Parker ignored him when he arrived in San Antonio.
However, he did make it clear he views the Spurs as "greatness," complemented Ginobili for being a great teammate, and listed Duncan among his top 5 players of all time with Jackson and Barnes.
Regardless, Silver and Black fans did not take well to the majority of Murray's comments.
Since being traded, Murray has been very vocal about being with San Antonio.
He shared on Instagram that the team will need 15 years to get back to glory soon after he was traded.
Nevertheless, he has repeatedly proclaimed that the Spurs saved his life, that he is thankful to the team for believing in him and selecting him in the 2016 NBA Draft (29th overall) with many teams passing on him because of his checkered past in Seattle.
Atlanta plays in San Antonio on March 19 and it will be interesting to see how fans in attendance will react to his return.
And despite his recent comments that shook most of the fanbase, the bottom line is that he's always been thankful for the opportunity the Spurs gave him.
The Spurs traded Murray to the Hawks for Danilo Gallinari, three first-round draft picks, and a draft swap in 2022.
Let us know what you think, Spurs fans. Follow us on Twitter at @KENS5 and at @JeffGSpursKENS5.