How many pushups could you do for $100?
If you were a child in the presence of Atlanta Hawks star Dejounte Murray on July 4, you only had to do 20 of them to cash in.
Murray went live on Instagram to show himself and a group of young children all gathered around. The children all lined up to earn their payout and, one by one, each knocked out their set of 20 pushups and were handed a $100 bill by the generous Hawks star.
“Made Sure Them kids had a great 4th of July Cause We Ain’t Have A D*** Thing And Had To Go Get It,” Murray shared in a subsequent message. He has been open about his upbringing – which included a stint in a juvenile detention center – and his appreciation for his current disposition as an NBA player.
In fact, it’s in the tweet pinned to his profile on Twitter.
“It’s a story that’s never been heard before because I was in the streets for real, for real. I didn’t live off of nobody’s name,” Murray told Michael Pina of Sports Illustrated in May of 2011. “It ain’t nothing to brag about. This s— is crazy when I wake up. I’m playing in the NBA. I’m on a video game. I have fans that buy my jersey. It still don’t feel real. I’ve been here five years; I feel like it’s a dream still.”
Murray has embraced a leadership role dating back to his San Antonio Spurs tenure and that has continued with the Hawks.
All three of the Hawks’ draft picks said he was the first to reach out to them on draft night.
“Dejounte is a real good guy,” Spurs guard Tre Jones said per Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News in January. “I feel like a lot of the things that happened when he separated from here and got traded, a lot of things happened that made him out to be a bad guy a little bit. I don’t think it’s anything like that.”
Atlanta Hawks’ Dejounte Murray sends message while putting in work
This past season with the Hawks, Murray averaged 20.5 points, 6.1 assists, and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 34.4% on a career-high 5.2 threes per game. The 2021-22 steals leader, Murray averaged 1.5 steals in ‘23 and has averaged at least that many in each of the last four seasons.
His effort along with those of Trae Young put the duo in a historic context.
The 26-year-old one-time All-Star, Murray, was right back to work after celebrating the holiday with his family, sharing a video of himself in the gym at 1 a.m.
DJ working #TrueToAtlanta pic.twitter.com/e5S7rnKPsU
— Josh Buckhalter (@JoshGBuck) July 5, 2023
Murray has found himself mired in trade rumors this offseason, mostly because of the Hawks’ inconsistencies in his first season and his looming contract situation. But Murray remains invested in the team and his craft.
It’s easy to root for players who are that committed to improving and even easier when they also make it a point to steer the next generation in the right direction as Murray has.