SAN ANTONIO — Sidelined for the entire 2018-19 season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee last October, Spurs point guard Dejounte Murray said Wednesday that he’ll be ready for the start of training camp and is excited about getting back on the court with his teammates.
"I'm confident I'll be ready to go," Murray said.
Murray was set to start the season as the Silver & Black’s starting point guard last year before he sustained the first serious injury of his basketball career.
Determined to get back on the floor, Murray has gone through a grueling rehab program, working out six days a week for eight months before cutting back to five a week in June.
"Knee work, core work, starting in the weight room first," Murray said. "Now I'm playing full court. I'm excited about the progress. You can see it coming."
Murray has even played in 4-on-4 games with Tim Duncan, who still works out at the Spurs' practice facility.
“I feel great mentally,” Murray said. “That’s the most important part because it’s bigger than basketball, how I feel as a person. I feel good. I’m happy. I wouldn’t let nothing like that break me.
"I love to work. I love to learn. I’m just excited to get to training camp. You can forget about preseason and the season. I’m just excited about training camp.”
Murray had not spoken to the local media since getting injured late in the first half of a preseason game against the Houston Rockets last Oct. 7 at the AT&T Center. He met with reporters at a Spurs camp for kids at Incarnate Word High School.
Murray was going to be the catalyst of a more up-tempo Spurs offense last season. He went down doing just that, injuring his right knee as he slashed to the basket for a layup.
The Spurs not only lost their point guard when Murray went down; they had to move forward without their best perimeter defender. Murray was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team after the 2017-18 season, becoming the youngest player in league history (he was 21) to make the All-Defensive Team.
Naturally, Murray was crushed when doctors told him the extent of the injury.
“The day I found out what it was – which was the next day after the Houston game – I cried,” said Murray, now 22. “I don’t think I’m the toughest guy in the world, but it’s hard to get somebody like me to cry. I shed some tears, but I still showed up to (watch) my team’s film.
“I wanted to show them that I’m a tough person and I’m going to get through it. I got their support, the organization’s support. It was all a good thing for me to see people supporting me. But more importantly, the process has been great. Working every day. Like I say, I love to work. I love to learn.”
Murray said the knee injury drove him to tears because he felt deflated after investing so much in the offseason.
“I’d never been hurt,” Murray said. “I pray to God it never happens again. It was just tears because I knew all the work that I put in last summer. I put in a lot of work. I cried because I knew how much work I put in. After that, I was ready to have surgery and get the rehab going.”
Murray shared a funny story about the night he was injured. That he can find some humor in what he went through is a testament to where he is now mentally.
“The night it happened, I went home,” Murray said. “And one of the staff came to my house for a couple of days. I didn’t know that I was feeling some way . . . I took some meds and I felt some way. I called LaMarcus (Aldridge) and I’m like, ‘Hey, bro, I can play. Like nothing bad happened, like I feel good.'
“Like I told him, ‘I’m doing jumping jacks and high knees, and dribbling the ball in my living room. I think I’m good.’ I think that was funny. It was funny at the moment. I called Coach Pop and told him I’m good. LaMarcus was calling the coaching staff, like ‘D.J. just told me he’s good. It’s not a serious injury.’ The next day, I felt pain. I was like, OK, I’m not good.”
While Murray said he’s “always appreciated life every single day,” the injury has given him a new perspective on the game he loves.
“Most importantly, it’s made me hungry,” Murray said. “It made me thirsty to play, just excited, something to look forward to.”
Murray was selected by the Spurs with the 29th pick in the first round of the 2016 NBA draft. He supplanted veteran Tony Parker as the team's starting point guard in January 2018, and averaged 8.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.2 steals in his second season.