Spurs Ex Dejounte Murray on Relationship with Tony Parker: 'He Didn't Like It'
Dejounte Murray's "breakup" with the San Antonio Spurs this past offseason could've been a lot uglier than it was.
But now, the Atlanta Hawks guard is opening up more about a few of the reasons he felt unwanted by the team during his time in San Antonio along with some newly-unveiled annoyance he felt from Spurs legend Tony Parker.
"I started growing, first year go by, thrown in the fire in the playoffs versus the Rockets," he said on a recent appearance of SHOWTIME Basketball. "Then my second year, they see I come back ... and then that was the year that I took the job from Tony."
Murray started to become one of the cornerstones for the Spurs prior to the 2018-19 season. But this was when Parker decided to leave the franchise after 17 incredible seasons and sign with the Charlotte Hornets before retiring a year later.
Murray ended up tearing his ACL in the preseason of that year, but didn't have Parker on the team to be the mentor that he expected.
"Pop brought us in the office, he told Tony," Murray said. "Tony ain't like it. I know he ain't like it ... I know he didn't like it. Cause if he liked it, he would've mentored me the way he should have. He wouldn't have went to Charlotte."
While Parker wasn't required to be Murray's mentor, it was a role that seemed only fitting given the integrity the Spurs had built behind a team-first mentality. But even without him, Murray went on to bud into the star that Spurs fans came to know and love.
Of course, that all came tumbling down when he was traded to the Hawks this past offseason, as the speculation that he wouldn't re-sign with San Antonio forced the team to get the most value out of him as possible.
The Hawks will visit San Antonio for the first time this season on Sunday, March 19. It remains a mystery just exactly how Spurs fans will treat Murray during his return to the Alamo City.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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