This summer, new Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray has been generating a lot of buzz on the summer pro-am circuit. But it is not just his appearances in the Drew League, CrawsOver, and other such events that are grabbing all of the attention. It is the new demeanor that Murray has shown that has people talking.
The Hawks spent a lot of capital to land Murray from the San Antonio Spurs. He instantly gives them one of the most dynamic backcourts next to Trae Young.
Murray was brought in for how he can complement Young on the court.
But the two guards might have more in common than their desire to win a championship. Their brash attitudes are sure to ruffle some feathers this coming season, even if it is not to the level we have seen from Murray this summer.
Atlanta Hawks G Dejounte Murray’s antics got Paul George’s attention
Murray, Young, and John Collins all took part in The CrawsOver and pulled off some pretty insane stuff. That included their three-man lob that began with Young hitting his defender with a nutmeg. But we also saw Murray have some fun of his own with a few of his opponents, including bouncing the ball on the head of one.
https://twitter.com/G0dGiven_/status/1554089684917227522
But Murray was not done.
He found himself across from 2022 top-pick, Paolo Banchero of the Orlando Magic in a Drew League contest.
The matchup included quite a bit of feistiness from Murray.
That matchup got the attention of Los Angeles Clippers forward, Paul George.
The seven-time All-Star didn’t seem to have any issue with Murray’s fire and even seemed to view it as a positive.
"Good entertainment, that Orlando-Atlanta matchup, that Paolo [Banchero], Dejounte [Murray] sh*t. But they from the same city, so pretty sure it's all for the love of the game."
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) August 10, 2022
Paul George on the Paolo-Dejounte kerfuffle pic.twitter.com/BH0ig4siSg
Murray spilled the beans on why he went after Banchero as he did. The two Seattle natives have worked out together in the past. But Murray felt like the rookie disrespected him in some way and let him know about it.
George — who appeared to be playing MLB: The Show during the stream — is correct.
Banchero and Murray’s interaction was “good entertainment” for the fans in attendance and should add some spice to the two teams’ head-to-head matchups next season.
Young is no stranger to ruffling a few feathers, having made a few million new “friends” in New York and Philadelphia the last couple of years. But Murray has certainly turned it up a notch, especially for a player that seemed so reserved to many, including people who followed him with the Spurs.
Whatever has gotten into Murray, the Hawks have to hope it carries over into the regular season and playoffs and that it is contagious within reason.
This does raise an interesting question, do the Hawks have the NBA’s most-hated backcourt?