New Orleans Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray was on the court for the Pelicans in their clash against the Boston Celtics but suffered a major setback. The guard missed a shot and went to grab an offensive rebound before just crumpling to the ground and grabbing his right heel.
Murray was helped to the locker room after the play with many fearing Murray suffered a torn Achilles.
Dejounte Murray was helped to the locker room after suffering an apparent non-contact injury on this play 🙏 pic.twitter.com/4HVeiNwduI
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 1, 2025
He had four points and five rebounds in eight minutes before checking out of the contest.
This is as brutal an injury as any player can suffer. Murray will likely not play another basketball game in 2025, including the start of next season, as Murray will most likely have a 12-month recovery period if he has suffered a torn Achilles.
It’s hard to say if Murray picked up some other injury, but everyone who’s watched NBA basketball for years knows how players go down on Achilles tears. The fact that nobody even touched him on the play says a lot, with the guard bracing for a long absence from the court.
Murray was averaging 17.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 7.6 assists this season. He joined the Pelicans in the summer after being traded from the Atlanta Hawks. Murray was supposed to help the Pelicans make a Playoff push, but he started the season with a hand injury and saw most of his teammates go down to different injuries in the first few months.
By the time he made his season debut, the Pelicans were already far behind the eight-ball. Their season has gone from bad to worse now that Murray is out, as they likely won’t have his services for a win-now 25-26 season either.
Dyson Daniels Called The Pelicans ‘Cursed’
The Pelicans traded Dyson Daniels to the Hawks to enable the acquisition of Dejounte, However, the 21-year-old Australian guard was ecstatic that he was sent away from the Pelicans to a new organization because he believes the Pels are ‘cursed’ with injuries.
“That organization’s cursed. Every year there’s something new. I’m happy I’m not there anymore…I had like four or five ankle injuries down there as well. There’s something down in that water down there or something. They got hamstrings. They got knees. They got concussions and stuff as well. They get everything down there. I don’t know what it is. Playing hard I guess?”
It’s hard to dismiss Daniels’ beliefs when we’re literally seeing it play out this season. Even Zion Williamson keeps getting hurt despite everyone believing he’s in the best shape of his career.
There is no way to prepare for an ACL or Achilles tear, so the Pelicans really couldn’t have ‘stopped’ this from happening. But this will be a test for their fitness staff, as they have to ensure Murray can return to the court next season so that the Pelicans can have at least one competitive season with their current core.
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