A story from former Spur Dejounte Murray has been making its way around the interwebs and gives more evidence of a recently retired coach’s magnanimity. While various articles captures a scant quote from former Spur Dejounte Murray, who was featured in a [recent episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyrl_4Q1tLA) of _The Pivot Podcast_, it was enough to pique my interest in hearing more Gregg Popovich’s relationship with yet another player.
Murray gave us yet another story about what an amazing father figure Pop was, and how we went above and beyond to help his family during an overwhelming time of crisis:
> “So for me, he was like a father figure. There’s so many stories — if he were able to sit here and talk, he’d tell you: he’s never had a player come into his office and cry on his shoulder about how many murders he had to deal with back home in Seattle, how many funerals I had to pay for. It was so crazy — a lot of my people don’t even know this. From family, friends, and the penitentiary… Pop didn’t want me to go to Seattle. When I first got drafted, I wouldn’t go to Seattle. And that was a man who cared about me. That was a man who wanted me to reach my full potential in life first—then as a basketball player. He’s so real.
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> “He tried to move my mom to San Antonio with his own money after she got shot. My mom was shot in the leg my rookie year. He called her himself — without me knowing until after the fact. ‘We want to move you here. No — not with his money, with my money.’ That sounds like a dude that cares about me and loves me, right?”
Murray discusses the difficult subject with a calmness that doesn’t match the seriousness of his circumstances. The entire episode is below, and his story about Pop begins at about the 36 minute mark. The last 10 or so minutes is also worth a listen as it captures Murray’s maturation into his veteran career and his relationship with current Spurs coach Mitch Johnson, who was a critical developmental source for him later in his high school years.
Pounders! I hope you are as excited as I am about Game 6 of the Finals tomorrow night!