Inside The Huskies

Ex-Husky Dejounte Murray Lost for Season with Achilles Tear

The veteran guard went down for the New Orleans Pelicans after reaching for a rebound.

Dan Raley

Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray drives to the basket past Toronto's forward Chris Boucher.
Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray drives to the basket past Toronto's forward Chris Boucher. / John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

Dejounte Murray, unable to stay healthy long for the New Orleans Pelicans, suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon tear in Friday night's game against the Boston Celtics, tumbling to the floor after missing a shot and reaching for the rebound.

In the Pelicans' 118-116 loss in New Orleans, Murray drove down the left side of the key, pulled up for a jumper and made a move to retrieve the ball after it bounced off. He went down favoring his right foot without making contact with anyone else.

The 6-foot-5 guard from Seattle got up on his own and hipped off the floor as play continued all around him. ESPN was among the first to report he had an Achilles rupture.

In his first season with the Pelicans, the former University of Washington standout earlier fractured his left hand and missed 17 outings.

The Pelicans, hit hard by injuries this season, were trailing the Celtics 22-21 with 3:51 remaining in the first quarter when Murray suffered his mishap.

Murray, a 2022 All-Star selection who came to New Orleans in a July trade with the Atlanta Hawks for four players and a pair of draft picks, was in his eighth NBA season.

A one-and-done player for the UW and coach Lorenzo Romar during the 2015-16 season, Murray was a first-round pick who began his pro career with the San Antonio Spurs. With the Texas franchise, he suffered a season-ending knee injury in a 2018 preseason game that forced him to sit out what would have been his third year in the league.

Murray's season ends with him averaging 17.9 points, 7.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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