Atlanta Hawks star Dejounte Murray played the game of his life last week when he exploded for a career-high 44 points in a 123-122 win over the league-best Boston Celtics. The only wrinkle in Murray’s iconic performance was that he had to take 44 shots to get to 44 points.
This isn’t exactly a great look for Murray, and apparently, this was the exact message San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich had for his former player.
Atlanta Hawks News: Dejounte Murray Got Savage Text From Gregg Popovich
Murray recently guested on teammate Trae Young’s From the Point podcast. One of the topics of their conversation centered around Murray’s relationship with Popovich, who served as the former’s coach during his six years in San Antonio.
According to Murray, his relationship with Popovich requires no filter. In fact, Pop did not hold back in calling Murray out after his outing against Boston:
“From Pop, it was no bulls**t from Day 1,” Murray said. “He texted me the other day like, ‘You took 40 f**king shots, pass the f**king ball.”
"You took 44 f–king shots. Pass the f–king ball."
Pop had jokes after @DejounteMurray's big game 😂
via From the Point by Trae Young pic.twitter.com/obTAmiJ3hG
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 4, 2024
Murray had nothing but kind words for the 75-year-old coach, though. In fact, the Hawks star considers Popovich to be his father figure — a man who can and has literally given him a shoulder to cry on when need be.
It has been a couple of years since Murray and Popovich parted ways, but the way the former speaks so fondly of the legendary coach speaks volumes about the type of relationships Pop is able to build with his players.
As Murray said, Gregg Popovich is one of one.
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