New Orleans Pelicans star Dejounte Murray’s return to the lineup on Wednesday was less than ideal and he even apologised to fans for the ’embarrassing’ defeat.
Murray fractured his hand in New Orleans’ season-opening victory over the Chicago Bulls last month and missed the team’s next 17 games before returning to the court in Louisiana against the Toronto Raptors.
The visiting side laughed the hosts off the floor with a 119-93 victory at the Smoothie King Center and Murray expressed his disappointment regarding the nature of the Pelicans’ defeat in his postgame press conference.
“If you’re not embarrassed and really mad about this, that’s a problem. It’s not really about the loss, [but] how we lost in front of our fans. Like, even the fans booing — I mean, what would you do if you was a fan paying your money?
“You want to come watch a competitive basketball game, especially from your home team. So, they got all the rights to say what they want, feel how they feel. They deserve a better game.”
Dejounte Murray said tonight was “disgusting.”
— Christian Clark (@cclark_13) November 28, 2024
Where do the New Orleans Pelicans go from here?
It’s been nothing short of a disastrous start to the season for the Pelicans, who sit rock bottom of the Western Conference with a 4-15 record. After getting 70 games out of star man Zion Williamson last year, he’s featured just six times this time around.
Injuries have played a significant role in the team’s demise, with the top eight players in New Orleans’ rotation facing some sort of issue – Williamson’s hamstring, Brandon Ingram’s calf, CJ McCollum’s hip, Herb Jones’ shoulder, Trey Murphy’s knee, Jose Alvarado’s hamstring and Jordan Hawkins’ back.
Right now, it may be in the Pelicans’ best interests to tank with the hope of landing Duke star Cooper Flagg in the draft next year as it seems all hope has evaporated.
