Dejounte Murray came to the Atlanta Hawks this summer with the intention of competing for an NBA championship.
With 49 games now in the books, Murray is having a great individual campaign but Atlanta is struggling to hold on to eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Understandably, rumors surrounding the Hawks making some sort of trades have intensified in recent weeks. There are currently 4 teams being linked to a potential Trae Young deal and a possible 3-teamer in the works.
This past week Murray offered some insight into how he deals with the trade rumors.
“I wouldn’t say more than what I expected, but more than where I came from in San Antonio where everything was just not as loud,” Murray told Sam Amick of The Athletic.
“There’s a lot going on, but for me I’m just trying to keep guys together with my leadership, showing up to work, working hard, being vocal and keeping us together, and trying to keep the outside noise the outside noise.”
That said, Murray understands that is impossible to completely get away from the chatter.
“But at the end of the day, we all see it,” he continued.
“You can’t hide. You can’t run from it. For me, like I say and I always preach, adversity shows what you’re built of and who you are. I love adversity. From where I come from to make it to the NBA, getting overlooked, getting hurt, being out a whole year — just fighting.
“No matter what. Adversity, it helps build you up. So like I said, there’s a lot of noise, but at the end of the day, winning takes care of it all. So we need to control what we can control, continue to come together as brothers, and try to go out and win basketball games.”
Murray has a tendency to keep it real. Whether he is explaining how he felt wronged by Tony Parker or explaining the impact Kawhi Leonard had on him, he is nothing if not honest.
The 2 best women’s basketball players in the world celebrated their birthday. https://t.co/1ghNseX0RF
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 26, 2023
This was just the latest example of that.
Will Murray get the opportunity to compete for a title in 2022-23 the way he intended when he first came to Atlanta? Time will tell.
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A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
