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Reading: Dejounte Murray On What Kawhi Leonard’s Insane Work Ethic Taught Him
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Home > NBA News & Analysis > Dejounte Murray On What Kawhi Leonard’s Insane Work Ethic Taught Him

Dejounte Murray On What Kawhi Leonard’s Insane Work Ethic Taught Him

Dejounte Murray was really impressed by Kawhi Leonard's work ethic even after he became a Finals MVP and DPOY.

Orlando Silva
Jan 21, 2023
4 Min Read
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Credit: Fadeaway World

Dejounte Murray has made a lot of noise recently after speaking out on the things he lived on the San Antonio Spurs and what he’s living now with the Atlanta Hawks. The talented point guard has been in situations that forced him to become better, although not all of them were happy at all.  

During his recent participation on Showtime’s “All the Smoke,” the point guard talked about how the Spurs played ‘mind games’ with him and also mentioned Tony Parker and called him out for leaving and not mentoring. Moreover, he discussed his current relationship with Paolo Banchero after their offseason drama. 

Murray isn’t always talking, but when he speaks, he says interesting things. Of course, not everything is controversial, and he has good memories from some of their former teammates, especially 2x NBA champion Kawhi Leonard. 


Dejounte Murray Reveals Kawhi Leonard Was Always At The Gym Despite Being An Honored Player 

Murray credited Leonard as the reason he became an all-defensive player in his sophomore year since Kawhi advised him to take a different approach to his game, focus on the defensive end and worry about scoring later. 

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“Kawhi is the reason why I made that all-defensive team my second year. He came to me and he was like bro, don’t worry about getting 15, 20 points, go make the all-defensive team. He told me that Year 2, I guarantee if you make that, now you’ll get on the court, defense gets you on the court, especially in San Antonio, so go make that all-defensive team now you stamped yourself. You can play D, so now they gotta have you on the floor. So if you on the floor, your ass gonna have to be able to play offense too.”

Dejounte added that Kawhi always led by example, and no matter how great and honored he already was, the Klaw was always trying to get better. 

“Other than that, I watched him show up every single day. Off days, game days, before, all of that, putting in work, 20 or 30 minutes. That’s all he wanted to do. So for me, this MF a Finals MVP, DPOY, All-Star, but he’s in the gym like he ain’t got none of that. So I saw that and was like I got no excuse be.”

Murray has plenty of stories from his time with the Spurs, but this one is really special. The Kawhi-Spurs marriage ended in a pretty bad way, but it’s good to know that the current Los Angeles Clippers superstar made an impact on his younger teammates, Murray included. He’s been a very good defender in recent seasons, and Leonard played a big role in that. 

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TAGGED:San Antonio Spurs Archive
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ByOrlando Silva
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Orlando Silva has been a part of Fadeaway World for over three years now, starting in March 2019. Trade rumors, hottest news, controversies, and basketball gossip have become his specialties. After several years of seeing the Spurs dominate the playoffs, they've become his favorite team as players for the franchise either rise to the occasion or fall completely from grace. When he's not talking about the NBA, Orlando can be seen watching other sports, making music, or enjoying television series.
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