Dejounte Murray was transparent when discussing his eighth NBA season, his first with the New Orleans Pelicans, in a recent interview with "The Pivot."
The point guard said it was the "worst" experience he's had in the professional league.
"This was my worst experience in the NBA," Murray said. "Nothing but love for New Orleans, when we're talking about the city. Even the organization, I don't bad mouth anybody. This is my experience. This is what Dejounte Murray went through and has gone through."
While Murray expected the Atlanta Hawks would trade him following the failed experiment of playing alongside fellow point guard Trae Young, the Pelicans were apparently not one of the teams mentioned in becoming his new home.
"Atlanta knew that me and Trae Young, you know, they never should've done that," Murray said. "They were figuring out what they were doing and they traded me, but that wasn't the team we were talking to. That wasn't even an option."
Murray said he was excited to become a team's primary point guard and facilitator again after playing off-the-ball from Young with the Hawks.
"At first, I'm shocked about the trade," Murray said. "I was like, 'D−, I'm going to New Orleans?' I remember when Hurricane Katrina happened and I was like, 'Man, I would never go there.' Straight up. This is a true story.
"It happened, so it's like, 'What are you going to do about it?'"
Murray said moving is always an adjustment because his kids, wife and brother all had to come with him from Atlanta.
'Everything went downhill'
"When I say my experience, it was bad, man," Murray said. "I get to New Orleans, training camp's good. I feel healthy, everything's good, I'm excited about what's about to happen as far as our roster and how camp went and everything went downhill."
Murray suffered a fractured left hand in the season opener against the Chicago Bulls. He returned to the lineup over a month later in late November before he suffered a season-ending Achilles injury on Jan. 31 against the Boston Celtics.
In addition to his on-court health issues, Murray dealt with a handful of personal problems, as well.
"My mom had a stroke seven days before the first game," he said.
The guard left New Orleans to go to his hometown of Seattle to be with his mother. In recovery, his mom told him she wanted him back on the court playing basketball instead of staying with her.
He said by the time he got back to New Orleans, he hadn't played basketball since he went to Seattle to be with his mom. Not only did he feel the pressure to play for his mom, but also show his loyalty to his new franchise and teammates.
Then, the hand injury happened.
"I felt like that was God being like, 'No. You need to be with her,'" Murray said. "She wanted you to go [to New Orleans], but nah, you broke your hand, so you have to go rehab and be with her. She needs you more than this game needs you."
When Murray returned, he told all his teammates he didn't want to be reminded of his mom because he's focused on the task of leading the Pelicans to a winning season. However, the downward spiral continued.
Organizational dysfunction
"The organization, it got bad, man," he said. "As you guys can see, such and such got fired, another guy left, they brought new people in."
Former team president David Griffin was fired, the team also announced it wasn't bringing back Swin Cash as its vice president of basketball operations and team development. Former general manager Bryson Graham left to join the Hawks' front office. Joe Dumars was hired to become the Pelicans' new Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations.
Murray was also dealing with the death of one of his cousins.
"In the meantime of all of this, I'm not getting what I need from the organization," Murray said. "It's hard for me to get my training table time, it's hard for me to get lifts, it's hard for me to get my on-court time. So you can only imagine where my mental is.
"I'm stressed, I'm mad everyday, I'm sad, I'm angry, I don't want to be there at that time. It's just so much going on."
Murray said all of the aforementioned things were present in his mind at the time of the hand injury.
"The NBA has always been the ultimate professional [standard] for everything," he said. "How you work, walk, talk, whatever. You get everything. That's never going to be the problem for people to come get your work. They've got food, they've got everything you need. The problems usually come from outside of the NBA, or your playing."
Murray said he didn't even know if he wanted to play basketball on the day of his injury because of everything he dealt with to that point of the season. He said he vented to his brother the entire drive to the Jan. 31 game.
"It wasn't just me, it was everybody's mental," he said. "Every player. I hope this brings peace to my brothers. I hope everyone gets what they need. I hope the organization gets it together because you have the talent, but it ain't just the talent. You need every dot to connect to have a chance to win."
Murray said the Pelicans' staff members told him they could get him whatever he needed after the Achilles tear.
"I'm like 'd---, whatever I need now after I tear my Achilles?'" He said.
Through 31 games this past season, Murray averaged 17.5 points, 7.4 assists, 6.5 rebounds and 2 steals a game. He was an All-Star in the 2021-22 season as a guard for the San Antonio Spurs.
You can watch the full interview on "The Pivot" below.