SAN ANTONIO — Sitting in the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas was a pair of Austin Spurs alum cheering on the team against Memphis Saturday night.
Guards Dejounte Murray and Derrick White made the trip from San Antonio to show their support for the G League squad and their efforts did not go unnoticed.
"It's nice that those guys are coming out. It just shows the type of organization that this is," rookie Joe Wieskamp said. "You have two of your better players, they just had a game last night, played their hearts out, and fought back to get that win, and then they come up to Austin tonight to watch us play."
Unfortunately, Austin picked up a 108-78 loss in front of the former Austin guards but the San Antonio rookies did well.
Wieskamp finished with 14 points and six rebounds while Josh Primo led Austin with a team-high 18 points and six assists.
Win or loss, to see Murray and White doing their part to show their support meant the world to the Austin players.
"It shows a lot about their character and the type of people that they are," Wieskamp said. "We appreciate it, and it definitely brings a little bit of extra energy to guys on the team seeing those types of guys there that have gone through the G League and had success and are now two of our best players for the Spurs."
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The guards honed their skills in the G League before landing a permanent spot in San Antonio.
During his rookie season (2016-17), Murray had multiple assignments with Austin. He finished his Austin career with averages of 17.2 points per game along with 7.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game.
White also shined with Austin during the 2017-18 season. He'd average 20.1 points per game along with 5.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.
The work they did with Austin continues to pay dividends and it should do the same for Wieskamp and Primo in their first steps into the NBA.
"Obviously, I see myself as a really good shooter, so I'm going to continue to shoot no matter how many I miss," Wieskamp said about his G League development. "My mindset is the next one's going in. So if I get an open look from three, I'm going to take it."
And that work in Austin paid off for several players such as Lonnie Walker IV, Bryn Forbes, former Spur Kyle Anderson, Tre Jones, and Keita Bates-Diop just to name a few.
Following the end of the game, Murray and White went above and beyond.
Rather than exiting the arena for the drive back to San Antonio, they went into the Austin locker room to speak with the players to give them words of advice.
"They came into the locker room and said 'hi' to us," Wieskamp said. "Basically, it's just a journey. Play together and things will work out."
Murray and White never forget their G League roots and for them, it's once an Austin Spur, always an Austin Spur.
Twitter at @KENS5 and at @JeffGSpursZone.