On a new episode of the Pivot Podcast with Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor, and Channing Crowder, formerly stars in the NFL, Dejounte Murray sat down for a long conversation where he revealed just how deep his connection to Mitch Johnson is.
"He's the reason I'm here right now," Murray told the Pivot Podcast trio, "He's the guy that came and got me out of jail when I was 15 with my uncle. Him and my uncle are best friends. Mitch Johnson created an AAU team for Dejounte Murray called A Plus. We went around the country. That's how I built my name. That's how I became a top recruit. That's how I got all these scholarships. Because of Mitch Johnson."
What powerful story. Even as the best friend of Dejounte's uncle, Johnson was under no obligation to help Murray. Quite the opposite, in fact. He had plenty of reasons not to get involved. It wasn't his kid nor his nephew. It wasn't even his best friend's son. Creating an AAU team and traveling across the country takes time and resources.
Mitch Johnson's high character is a great sign for the Spurs
The 38-year-old coach could have simply continued to live his life without giving a second thought to his friend's nephew, but his character is much higher than that. That trait is an important one, and his seems to be Popovich-level. That's why he's the perfect candidate to take over as the leader of the next generation for the Spurs.
On May 2nd, Mitch was announced as the new full-time head coach of the San Antonio Spurs. The announcement was met with mixed reactions from the fans who had strong feelings about Johnson's performance as an interim coach. Ultimately, one of the things that made Gregg Popovich such an effective coach is how much he cared for his players as people first.
The stories about Pop and what he's done for people or how well he's treated them are endless. But Murray made sure to reinforce a perception most thought couldn't get any stronger when he revealed what Coach Pop tried to do for his mother.
Gregg Popovich tried to use his own money to move Dejounte Murrays mom to San Antonio after finding out she had been shot in 2017 🥹
(Via @thepivot, h/t @CourtsideBuzzX)pic.twitter.com/rKM1FX5LNC
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) June 18, 2025
Pop and Mitch are cut from the same cloth. It's why the front office didn't hesitate to hand the reins over to Johnson when the most winningest coach in NBA history announced that he would be stepping away from the sidelines permanently.
I know what some of you are thinking. "A great personality is awesome, but he needs to be better at coaching basketball." But I'd argue that the Spurs overachieved last season, considering the circumstances of a tumultuous season that began pretty much from the beginning of the campaign when they announced that Devin Vassell wouldn't be ready to start the year. It was one thing after another after that.
There were moments when the Silver and Black were in the playoff race, had a top 12 defense at one point in the season, had a top three offense at another, and Stephon Castle won Rookie of the Year under his watch. The roster was flawed from the beginning, they faced nonstop adversity, and they still won 12 more games than they did the previous year. That's not nothing.
Coach Popovich has had more than a few successful coaches stem from his tree. They've always had a plan for what to do after Pop moved on, so it makes sense that they'd make sure to keep one of his best assistants ready for that.
Johnson may end up being the best one of them all. That's much more likely than the notion that one of the most well-run organizations in the NBA over the past 30 years dropped the ball on something so important.