what's up dog boy them boys long long long yes sir yes sir so he got So he a defender you know what I'm saying them boys long it be crazy how How old you going to get wrong man i just tell you man people look at them dudes out there with them sevenfooters be like "Oh he a little dude." Them them NBA dudes don't be little all y'all bastards especially this day and age for sure for sure but you know the game changes so much too he'll be out there standing next to Wimi you know what I'm saying of course he he a foot shorter they be like these small what what what you love what you love about the NO you hit RC up for some spots to check out not yet man it was different so far i ain't really get to get the experience man i ain't really get it yet so I was under the radar and I had a lot going on so that's your man right there he told me he told me upless [Music] people got me up on a mission got me up knowing me I got the key only vision I can trust trust limitless [ __ ] be it I hear the witness well man Jonte Murray man welcome to the show uh I've been wanting to do this for a long time I mean you know that Channon Crowder Fred Taylor Ryan Clark pivot fam thank you for pivoting with us we were talking about it walking in but I told you I had talked to Jamal yeah you know and I was like damn bro like y'all really be hooping in Seattle and he was so excited that we were going to talk and the first thing he says he's like "Yeah man that's that's the rose that grew from the concrete." Mhm you know and there's so much tied into basketball there but your story is a lot deeper when you look back man at some of the things that you've been through how do you think that shaped your I'm not partying I'm not smoking I'm not drinking perspective because you could have went the entire other way well first before I answer that I got to give y'all your flowers you know I appreciate what y'all do you know what I'm saying y'all got a voice you know it's important for you know men women and most importantly our youth you know they they need positivity so I see everything y'all do from y'all's careers and you know I just want to get y'all your flowers you know before we start you know what I'm saying so just had to do that but nah man it's honestly I I I still feel like I'm in a dream man like I ain't I haven't had the time to really just sit down and just realize like where I came from knowing I got a long ways to go but just where I'm at today you know I just I I really don't I don't know like I really feel like I'm dreaming i tell my boys I tell my lady even my daughter my oldest she's seven now so you know able to tell to to have conversations with her it's it's it's a deep story man like it's real deep and I'm trying to heal from it and when I mean I'm trying to heal from it like that's why I told you before like I don't really do interviews man like I I got to heal i got to find myself completely i got to you know be at peace with myself with the stuff that I was around the stuff I was involved with to to sum it up a little bit now obviously we'll get going but to sum it up a little bit like you know everybody I grew up with dead or in prison you know what I'm saying like basketball was my only way like straight up like basketball like I I talk to my brothers in prison every day every day whether it's on the app or you know answering phones I'm going to visit my brother in prison four or five days it's unbelievable but for me I just know as a kid for myself I looked up to the drug dealers the gang members now I get to watch my my kids my my nieces nephews little cousins say you know we want we want to be like you and that like it damn near make me shed a tear you know what I'm saying because I knew how hard it was for all of us and I feel like that was our sacrifice you know so they could live you know what I'm saying and be able to do the right things and know the right things cuz all we knew was the wrong things you know majority of it just you know me trying to heal from it you know you know that's that's really it but uh honestly I feel like I'm in a dream man this don't feel real at all i do want to tell you you know first off thank you for what you said but that's been the best thing about this show and it's not very often that people sit down and the first thing they say is that they do understand they need to heal uh I don't think we talk about it in our community enough i don't think we talk about it as black men enough and there are going to be some people man who watch this and learn what you went through and hear you say "Nah I'm still healing from it." That get some sort of comfort from that man so I appreciate you sharing that right off of the bat unprompted for real for sure yeah for sure we heard the stories the homelessness juvenile all that stuff bro just take us through your side of it cuz we heard we haven't heard it from your side and you hear the story so take it through your side but like you're saying what are you healing from that's the craziest part is that you hear these little snippets but you're not supposed to be where you are mhm what did you have to go through to make that thought like you just said it's surreal to you what did you have to go through to get where you are just starting like you gotta understand for me like the cameras had always been for me to like how can I find peace with what I had to go through you know what I've done and it's never been a knock to like I don't want to do interviews I feel like that ain't nothing wrong with it you know what I'm saying but at the same time real life matters you know we can hop on Instagram and Twitters and just social media in general and forget about real life for me it's always been real life for me from day one uh you know before I was blessed to to be in the position I am you know all the way back to the struggle was always real life survival mode as a kid I grew up around my grandma uh you know my mom did a lot of prison time so you know my dad was on and off i never knew what it feel like to have a mom and dad you know in the same household and it just it just was rocky for me this is something new uh that I'm going to say like my uncles I love my uncles you know on both sides but mainly you know the ones that was there I was with around a lot was my mom's brothers whether it was younger or older and you know they they stepped up they was teenagers and they seen the pain I was dealing with you know at 3 4 years old knowing what drugs were knowing that my mom was in prison you know they couldn't tell me she was on vacation none of that like I know my mom's in prison i'll go visit my mom in prison i cry myself why I couldn't leave the prison after visiting her you know what I'm saying sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor for years not having clothes you know love my grandma to death you know and I can only imagine how hard it was for her you know she had her own children but she took in a lot of her grandchildren and it's just like I think the taking in for me was enough now mature older and and going back in those times uh you know you could fall into the oh I didn't get this and I didn't get these shoes and she kept a roof over my head you know we was section A living whether it was here there there there she made sure I was there and I wasn't in child custody cuz that was the route I was going and and it takes a real woman you know to stand up and say "Nah I'mma take that responsibility." For me it was just tough always always and you know I I I tell the story of my uncle man like there was a time where I was with my uncle always with my uncle his name's Reuben even though I'm the one that's famous rich like he's the king of the family you know what I'm saying like he he's always gave his all he sacrificed his life going to college everything just for us you know what I'm saying the whole family and you know I just remember a moment I was about what 7 8 years old and I was in the car with him and all his partners and we end up just driving we going to my cousin's house and a real situation happened and you know we got pulled over and there was about eight guns drawn on us and just from that moment I remember that moment and that moment is going to get to and make you guys understand where I'm going you know and the pattern I'm going but that moment was like it was a real mo moment for me you know as a 8-year-old sitting in that front seat with him and not knowing what's going on and I think just from that moment it happened to be crazy that we had a cousin that was in the car of the other car you know that end up getting out stopping like "Nah these are my cousin these my cousins and if it wasn't for that moment like I wouldn't be sitting here with y'all." a 8-year-old would have got killed in a crossfire or something we had nothing to do with you know what I'm saying and you know from that moment on it it it kind of opened my eyes as a 8-year-old like damn this is what's going on outside of the house you know cuz we grew up in a neighborhood in the house we never really had cars or none of that stuff to move around it was walking and getting on the bus so you know for me it was always a certain distance that we went that was like you know one of the real moments for me you know a 8-year-old seeing that and then from that moment I'm like I'll never be in that situation again like I'mma forever protect myself you know and even though we were protected by God and I'm here to tell this story and this first time I ever told the story i ain't even told my uncle how that made me feel Years later i was 8 years old i'm 28 that's 20 years ago he don't even know how I really feel about that you know what I'm saying and all we was the negativity was the stuff that that that we had no choice there wasn't no Okay you go this way it's the right way nah it's the neg negative stuff you know it's you sell drugs you gonna gang bang you know what I'm saying you gonna fight to survive you lose a fight you going to fight again till you win you know what I'm saying like you know so so for me like from that moment I don't know what it was it just it just it went a whole another route for me you know what I'm saying that was what we like to call your pivot but earlier you you gave us our flowers uh for being what we are as a show i want to give you your flowers we recently had Trent Sheldon on and he said all of those decisions start with you right so I want to give you your flowers for making a choice to leave that behind and do better for your life now you're in a position where you can do better for your children and allow them to see something differently and create legacy with the Murray last name so shout out to you first and foremost but with our show we always try to project positivity and find a way to give back in whatever capacity what were some of the influences that led you to be in the street or to experience that gang life so some of those influences and how could we use your story and our platform to try and circumvent you know for the next generation to help them avoid those potential outcomes and you in a certain environment like sometimes as bad as it sound it's like the only influence is what's in front of you you know what I'm saying so for me the influence in front of me was the drug dealers the gang members that was what it was for me but also for my story you know to influence people that helped me it was the judge it was the prosecutors it was my lawyers it was the community centers like you know what I'm saying i had uncles that was still fighting for me like I caught my first case at 11 years old a robbery won with a firearm 11 years old i had my sister call the school and and tell them to to call and act like my mom true story call and act like mom my sister's in eighth grade i'm in sixth grade told my sister cuz I wasn't focused on school i'm in a whole another mind state like school's not giving me money school's not helping get the things that I want you know what I'm saying cuz we wasn't taught the importance of school right so for me like I'm telling my sister call to school you know tell them that I got an appointment or something my older sister called and that happened end up being a lesson for me that happened to being something really bad i got in a situation and and that situation kind of blessed me at that time even though I had some road bumps past that but that specifically is like what turned it up because I was just in a survival mode to get money and and I was 10 toes in it right and I wasn't trying to play in it and out of it so when you're in the streets there's no such thing as going to school and being in the streets there's no such thing it's impossible me right now I made it i'm past that right there's no such thing as being a professional or gentleman or father and being in the streets it's impossible you know what I'm saying like I joke all the time like with my boys like "Man I I love that I live in in the suburbs i'm in a gated community you would never hear me talk about money fame clothes materialistic things." Like I live in a gated community and my children go to a private school right that's unheard of for DeJonte Murray and where he come from you know what I'm saying so you know just to to pivot back to you know your your question was you know my influence was I did have a lot of people that were trying to show me they care like the prosecutor he he told me "Stay they wasn't trying to give me all this time i'm 11 years old i don't know what this is my first time in juvenile i don't know what's going on." Did the crime i'm like "Okay I'm about to do whatever time it is." I could have had a chance to telling all my people that was there but I was so invested into what I was doing i knew I couldn't tell i just happened to get caught the other three didn't get caught and then I didn't say their name but that just goes back to I was forced to grow up at a young age no 11 year old should live that life no 11 year old should have to make those decisions the decision is oh I'm I got homework today right i got school today i got basketball football practice today you know what I'm saying so you know there's always been people that care about me but I think what saved me is I think those people seen something in me because I got caught up in the law after that and after that but they seen something in me you know and one thing about it I've been taking accountability since I was 11 years old mhm 11 years old you know what I'm saying like quick yeah 11 years old i was paying my own phone bill 11 years old i had my own money 11 years old so when it came to hard times my life was hard times so it's like getting in trouble with the law or this or fights whatever like that it is what it is what message would you have for your 11 year old self i wish I had a mom and a dad you know at that time to to guide me in the right way i got children man like it's it's it's beautiful to be able to be a father know just beautiful like to to be able to show them right from wrong keep them away from negativity but also teach them discipline you know what I'm saying and all these different things you know so it's like I never been the guy to go back to tell my younger self anything kids are innocent kids are not asked to be in this world at all you know what I'm saying they're innocent every single kid across the world is innocent so it's like what can I go back and really tell myself you know that was my environment i was a product of my environment right my kids are a product of an environment that you know allows them to live in you know a big house go to private school have chef have nanny you know what I'm saying like so the odds for them is you know is they got a pretty good odds of you know doing the right thing compared to you know 11-year-old DeJonte Murray brother the chef the nanny is funny i had another question i'm going to ask this one though because we all have that we're blessed for sure and you come from the what the the the rose out of concrete type thing then now you have these trust fund babies how tough is that like cuz you want them you want them to be tough i got 13y old and I'm like man no you got to somebody say something slimy you got to No you in private school it ain't like that no more like the transition of what you teach your kids from how you grew up and what you just explained like how do you navigate that because your kids is way different than how you work for sure man it's like it's like 50/50 and what I mean by that is it's like a gift and a curse with it man the gift is they won't never go through what I went through the curse of it is this world's so sick you know what I'm saying there there's people that poison these kids' brains with all type of things you know like I got a seven-year-old and I never told my seven-year-old I was rich she don't live with me she she I get her a lot you know what I'm saying but she's home in Seattle and there's I've never wanted to tell her none of that i wanted her to just catch on to herself to see oh my dad plays basketball my dad plays an NBA like I wanted her to just figure out herself instead of just hey daddy's an NBA hey daddy's rich cuz that stuff don't mean nothing to me like it mean to other people you know what I'm saying like I'm thankful i'm grateful but it's like at the same time for for for her when she told me that it kind of hurt me because I know it came from you know somebody that that it wasn't a good place so it's like when I mean the curse of it is like they going to go through something I never went through cuz I went through not having money i lived in house house apartment hotel here here you know what I'm saying car like they won't never experience that so their experience is going to teach me too but at the same time is it goes back to the toughness part you know we we play around and I try to teach them like you know what I'm saying don't ever go out and start nothing but don't ever ever turn down defending yourself you defend yourself no matter where it's at however it is whatever it is you defend yourself but you don't start problems it's kind of like I tell my my brothers and all them like why do people get praised for being a good person everybody should be a good person you should be a good person if somebody harm you that's when you turn into another person but it's appropriate that you harm me I could defend myself i don't wake up saying "Oh I hope the world does this today or do that or I hope such and such don't get this blessing or get that blessing." Like I wake up to go get it myself first but at the same time my mentality and how I feel is like I want everybody to shine i want everybody to eat but if you act crazy but if you act crazy I you get what I'm saying like I need to match that match that energy but that's the I I keep myself away from a lot of those situations but stuff happens anytime any place anything can happen but I don't come off as a person that think I'm tougher than you i'm I'm better than you i'm equal than everybody in this room everybody in this world just cuz I got more you got less i'm not better than you m so you know more of it just making sure they know like you're not better than nobody my kids know they're not better than nobody i don't care where we go private planes we go here disney World i've seen the private plane yeah wherever they get to do whatever they get to do they know you're not better than You're just nobody you're different you travel you You're blessed you travel blessed that's what you teach your babies god blessed us you know what I'm saying not saying he don't bless other people this is the blessing he gave us and they understand that so it's going to be a challenge i got two girls and then my lady you know we she has a son and that's like my son you know what I'm saying and the the the thing for me is the girls like with the boys it's it's I feel like it ain't going to be easy but it's a it's a different conversation smack that you can hit that yeah with the girls man it's it's going to be tough you know what I'm saying it's going to be tough but my life been tough my life full of challenges every single day so I'm excited for it i'm up for the challenge you know I just want to make sure the main thing is the main thing and you're not better than nobody you're equal to everybody and you got to work for everything and they understand that my oldest came home she was in private school she came home when we were in Pittsburgh and I was playing for the Steelers she walks in the door slams down her backpack she said "Why y'all ain't tell me we was rich." Right but it was the same thing the place it came from they were making fun of her mhm they were telling her that she was different in a way and not different in the sense that that made her good or that she was blessed but that you behave this way because you have this or because you have that and we had never had that conversation because I like you I understood that that was God's blessing but it made me no different than the way I grew up and the conversation is always difficult is and me and coach Tomlin have it all the time how do I teach my kids the lessons that I learned without them going through the adversities I went through and the answer is you actually can't you can't right and you can't protect them from the different things they'll experience outside of you the question I have for you is you spoke about healing right and I know you know you you log in in the morning and you send your messages to your family and your friends that are in penitentiies how have you dealt with any survivors remorse or guilt being the one that made it every day every day just talking to them you know what I'm saying it's like I've know what we've done i've know what what what we was involved in and like I said accountability's been that's me accountability that's it and that's all i don't have time to point fingers and nah it's accountability that's the only way you're able to grow you make mistakes if you can't take the accountability for it you'll never grow you know what I'm saying whatever it is so it's just like for me it hurts me you know cuz my my partners ain't in jail for a year 5 years 10 years we talking about dudes in there 20 40 60 80 damn now this is real you know this is real and it's just like it's it's me messaging them every day or answering their phone calls that had nothing to do with you i love you i love you don't never get it twisted cuz you you behind them walls and don't tell him what they going through mentally physically damn do he still love me did he forget about me and if you know me you know me and a lot of my boys know me you know a lot of them know me they know my heart since I was a kid I was the baby that was in front i've never played behind nobody i never follow nobody but I never harmed nobody unless you harm me you know what I'm saying so I was respected because of just who I was as a person and my hustle ambitions i always I never wanted nothing from him from you from you know what I'm saying it was I'mma get it my own self and it's just like for me it hurts me sometimes I go days where I don't even want to answer the phone to talk to them because of the guilt you know what I'm saying i I I look at it like damn they in prison or the other ones are dead like you know what I'm saying and why why why they ain't me what makes me so different than them we was doing the same things why me you know what I'm saying like why did God all the time why did God choose me why cuz I know what I was involved with you feel what I'm saying like there's a reason why I move how I move how I move man there's a reason why I don't play around i don't party i don't drink i don't smoke i know what I want i got blessed with something that sounds impossible knowing what I was involved in when did it click then right because you know basketball like many professional sports it's something that chooses you and then you get to go chase it mhm right and you built yourself from all these things we've already talked about into an allstar that takes effort that takes discipline that takes dedication when was it that all of these things that you were doing that you say could very well leave you dead or behind bars when did it switch to a different drive and a different dream first of all I love basketball i love basketball with a passion i played in the rain i bought up socks and shot in the laundry basket i did the hangers in the in in the door and this is something I don't never got to say i don't got to tell my story and the whole state of Washington that know me family friends they'll be able to tell my story without me ever telling the story so for me like I've always said this I have a problem with this now i love the game so much and don't care about what it gives me far as the materialistic things the money the fame all that i don't care about that i love the game i'm that kid that loves the game at heart i love it i love the process of it like I love it so for me the switch was I've always been good in basketball if I wasn't good in basketball I wouldn't be sitting on this couch i didn't take school serious i didn't enter a classroom after 8th grade until I got to University of Washington yeah i didn't I didn't go to school oh no run that run that back what you didn't go into a classroom i wasn't in the classroom in high school for four years they had to homeschool me to get me away from my neighborhood you have Rainer Beach High School jamal would tell you you have Rainer Beach High School across the street is the block where I'm from so I never touched the classroom if I was going to be able to reach my full potential and just basketball whatever it was but it was basketball keeping it real i had to move away i had to move away like people don't people don't understand because I'm not a guy that run my mouth i don't I don't need to tell these different stories or I'm trying to heal so I could It's not cool for me to get on Instagram and and post things I had or what I was doing i was hood rich at 14 years old bro you ain't snitching on nobody no no no seriously what that I need to hear this process this sounds crazy we call this the pivot right so we going to pivot to everything i respect y'all that's why I'm here you feel what I'm saying i don't like interviews i'm healing i promise you i mean that i don't smoke or drink i don't know how the [ __ ] I go through mentally I don't know how i'm just strong i'm strong up there there's nothing that would make me go do a drug or or push some alcohol no no no no and I don't know how jonte so I was talking about this earlier right like we all grew up around hood dudes you know what I'm saying and to me they fell into two different sections right there was the hood dude that you knew was slimy right he had no code he didn't care about anybody but himself he lied he He'll still come in your house and steal for you right and then it was the other one who did what he had to do based on his circumstances but he took care of people and he was honest and what I mean by honest was if you asked him something he told you the truth whether he did wrong or he did right right and if he said he was going to do it he was going to do it because he was confident enough that if he wasn't going to do it he felt comfortable saying it you seem to me like that that whatever you present that's what you're going to be when you're growing up and this chaos is is all around you like you said you hood rich at 14 you're not touching a classroom how do you develop a code that turns you into a leader i was a born leader i didn't turn into a leader overnight every man in prison rest in peace to my ones that you know are now no longer with us the ones that are still with us my mama they'll tell you I've never followed nobody that's why I was respected by the older dudes they respected me because they call it front line and I was front line i didn't make excuses it wasn't I'm 13 14 but most importantly I never follow nobody and that's no knock to nobody i never follow nobody anything that I did in my life is cuz I wanted to do you know what I'm saying accountability accountability yeah i heard you say one time um that you don't really go back and forth with people you don't really talk mhm cuz you said like I'm really about that mhm right and you said most people that do what I do they aren't right they're talking for show right they want it to be that I want to make you believe this is who I am they need approval why don't you need the approval they need approval cuz when you went through what I went through there's nothing to celebrate about that there's no image that you that you you're trying to get across to the next person that you were that or you wasn't that yeah and as you get older and you mature because I was a kid that was my environment i had to go through it to get to it you know what I'm saying i'm mature i'm grown now i'm a gentleman i'm a father i look back at all of it there's nothing cool about it i'm hurt from all of it i have real trauma and pain inside of me from all of that how does that present in your life then that the trauma the pain it's there you know what I'm saying for me the the best thing to to to cope with it is like I said is knowing my purpose my children and just knowing how blessed I am you know what I'm saying i haven't really tried the mental health stuff with other people it's It's just tough when you were so deep into the things I was deep into only time will tell mhm there ain't no time table you just don't know and that's the messed up part about it so there's days where where where I'm hurt a lot inside i'm just so hurt you know what I'm saying i break down and cry in the shower in the car i could be listening to music hey bro man if you want my money start a food app where you going to deliver the food to my house no matter where I'm at man I'm tapping in it could be any type of name as long as you got something I want to eat I'm in there but bro I went and looked at my bank account at the end of the month they get all my dope but I tell you what what I've been looking into man is Monarch Money it's a CFO for all of your needs it gives you full visibility and total control over your finances so you could stop earning right and start saving money yeah man when you get bread you don't know you're going to have bread then you have it you need Monarch Money because your accounts investments your goals you got to set that number out there and Monarch Money can help you with all of that they are that CFO of your personal financial goals start building wealth with 50% off in your first year with Monarch Money the tool people actually love over 1 million households use this why wouldn't you be a part of that not only 1 million households but it was named Wall Street Journal's best budgeting app of 2025 and all they got to do to get control of your money is go to monarchmoney.com in your browser use code pivot half off the first year that's 50% off the first year of you not having to argue with your lady not having to argue with your man having a good time monarch Money got your back and remember that's 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com with the code pivot now back to the show how do you like as a natural leader like as you're talking and all you've been through athlet like athletic won't even say failure bro but turmoil mhm like you go you go to San Antonio then your ass in Austin mhm then you get traded and like how do you deal with that like mentally knowing like like you saying like your personality is a dog a you know that man but then the world is telling you something else the basketball world is telling you something else how do you deal with those situations where life's not going the way you thought it would go and now you have to pivot as we're using a lot you have to deal with that but like your personality even just listening to you talk it's like bro I'm I'm that guy then somebody tells you "Well you really ain't that guy." That's cool that's cool i'm still going to get up 8:00 a.m every morning go to the gym handle my business be a father work out again after this interview it's okay people are going to like you people are not going to like you it's okay it's okay i love it but you got an ego for sure for sure we all do yep but at the same time that comes where where do you care about cuz I got Why would I care about the guy that's in Alaska right now messaging me saying I suck mhm this [ __ ] so real i I had my own father when I got hurt text me because me and him ain't cool that somebody else was taking my spot when I was in San Antonio no this [ __ ] real there's a reason why I don't get on these cameras man this [ __ ] real this [ __ ] is real it's It's nothing to play with it's It's not a joke i'm healing like I'm trying to heal i am i'm I'm really am my kids need me the youth need me you know what I'm saying i try to tap in with the youth as much people as I can so it's like for me the just the moral to answer your question is people going to like you or they not going to like you i might go back with somebody on Instagram to give them what they want like a person comment or something to DM you and I just messing them back like "Ah it's all good it's all love." You know kindness kill a [ __ ] you know what I'm saying yeah no that's my approach too but I have a question for you when a man's in and out of your life you work to get to this place i don't know if it was when you tore your ACL in San Antonio or what and your father your biological father messages you and it's like "Yeah somebody's going to go get you a spot." Mhm what is your response to that i was hurt cuz I love him and I know he loved me like more of I know he loved me straight up we might not had the best relationship and I never called him a dead beat he know I love him you know at the end of the day but I don't know what make a a father say that you know just cuz we had we've been having going on for years before I even made it to college just back and forth you know what I'm saying and you know so I remember it like yesterday there was something in me that hurt but there's something to me like life goes on you gonna stay in this house and be hurt or you gonna be hurt or that you know what I'm saying like nah it is what it is i can't control how you feel i can't control how he feel i can't that's that's that's life people People got their opinions people feel how they feel you know what I'm saying that [ __ ] turn me up though i'm crazy too when it come to to my work i love my work i love it so things like that is like "Oh okay bet now now not only this person I don't know like a stranger should I got to prove my dad wrong bet i tore my ACL became an all-star he came to the All-Star game i got to I got to swallow that pill or does he I I think it's safe to say he swallowed that pill and I'm not sure if he tried to use it as a form of like reverse psychology to kind of motivate you to not slack up but whatever it was you you handled your business but that brings me to your time in San Antonio cuz not too long ago you don't play for the Spurs but you showed up at Pop's press conference which I thought was just one of the most honorable things to do what sort of influence was pop on you like getting drafted to to San Antonio right god put puts us in places that we can we can only u handle what he gives us if you had gone somewhere else with a different coach who knows what what your career would have turned into he was like the the the father figure I was missing consistent cuz I show up to the gym every day we got you know you guys know how the professional game work man you on planes you on buses you all you always together so for for me it was just it was everything was happening just back to back and it was like connecting the dots and it was just like the right timing for everything knowing what I was going through knowing I'm going into this new world this professional world that I have no clue about cuz I come from just a kid from the south of Seattle and that's all I know i don't know this corporate stuff i don't I don't know this business stuff so getting to be around him a leader that's that's teaching me how to be a man how to be a professional how to go about your work how do you treat people you are who you only treat people how you treat people right you treat people like an [ __ ] you're an [ __ ] yep you treat people good i mean you're a good person you know what I'm saying so for me it was he was like a father figure there's there's it's it's so many stories if if he was able to to come sit here and talk he'd tell you he's never had a player come in his office that cried on his shoulder from how many murders he had to deal with back home in Seattle how many funerals I had to pay for it was so crazy a lot of my people don't even know this from family friends and the penitentiary pop didn't want me to go to Seattle when I first got drafted I wouldn't go to Seattle and that was a man that cared about me that was a man that wanted me to reach my full potential in life first but then as a basketball player he's so real he tried to move my mom to San Antonio with his own money after she got shot my mom was shot in the leg my rookie year he called her himself without me knowing until after the fact we want to move you here no no not with his money with my money that sound like a dude that care about me and love me right mhm right you feel what I'm saying cuz my mom got shot at that time you should know my mentality without me saying it right damn how did you find out he uh that pop called your mom he eventually told me you know he eventually told me how' you feel when I mean he's the greatest basketball coach of of our time says "Look it's bigger than basketball your mom got shot i understand who you are and what that means to you i want to bring her here and I wanted to do it on me not on you." When when he told me it just was it was really like cuz in that time I went from starting in high school and starting in college now I'm not playing but I understand it though like a lot of these guys come to the league young guys they they want it overnight i didn't want it overnight i just need to understand let me know you know give me the give me the the the plan what it is whatever and I'm going to go accomplish it like it doesn't matter how long it take it doesn't matter what I have to do you know so for me I was just blessed to go around all these great people but for him specifically when he told me that it was it was simple oh this dude care about me cuz I'm a fan just like everybody else is a fan this is Greg Papovic won five championships how many players have he just helped non basketball just these conversations just the hug like "Huh I love you i care about you." So to see him tell my mother you know those things and even him telling me I just did that because I care about you i care about her and I know what bringing your mom to San Antonio where she's safe and what that would do for you mentally just mentally we didn't get to the basketball part that's what I took from that he cared about me he loved me with his actions not with his words bro it's a thing we all go through you forgot where you came from mhm and you came from some [ __ ] you came from some tough times i hear it all the time i hear it all the time but what do you hear like what would you tell a guy cuz I've even heard that like Decada to Georgia mhm my kids we went up we we went back years ago and they were like "Daddy we want to see the project you grew up in." I was like "We don't need to go back to that [ __ ] i don't want you to see that but what would you what would you tell the people that say "Oh you forget what you got from." No I I tell my like "Daddy worked hard to get you out of this." I don't even want you to see that but what would you tell Just listen to your story what would you tell people that feel that way like you you forgot where you came from you you gave up on the hood and all that y'all got it that's my thing what do you say to everybody that know know me like you didn't just see me get drafted and you see me on TV or you see me on the internet every person that know me know that I got everything out of the mud on myself by myself so I never really had the problems of you changed on us remember I did this for you remember I did that for you i had dudes say you you want this whatever it could be 50 cash it could be car i don't want it everybody know that I've got everything out of the mud i'm by myself you know what I'm saying but also at the same time I have a heart of a lion everything I receive I want to give back times a thousand you get what I'm saying so so so for me is I always hear it through like outside people yeah outside not even outside people like I I heard it i got a real story for you i landed back home recently right and this was this is probably like a couple weeks ago i landed back be in and out i'll be there you know what I'm saying so I l back home and one of my one of my cousins love him to death you know he he he come from the neighborhood I come from he a little he probably a year older than me and he he calls me and he's like "Cuy man [ __ ] really be haters." I'm like "Yeah I know well what happened what happened man and I was in the hood and and such and such was saying "Man why bro don't do this for me why bro don't do this for us why bro don't do that for us?" So you know what I told my cousin why are you calling me telling me that why didn't you check that to where you didn't even have to call me to tell me that why are they so comfortable to talk about me in front of you 100% i love my cousin to death i love him unconditionally i'm literally getting off the plane i'm on a You know what I'm saying like because that's another thing i'mma pick up i'm not that dude that I'm better than you oh I'm Richard nah I ain't answering my phone if I'm not in the gym with my kids or in the air like I'mma pick the phone up man i want to talk to my people i may not be able to talk to you tomorrow the thing for me was that Yeah why you ain't checking him why you ain't checking why you calling me telling me this man why is like he just said like Ryan said why is he comfortable saying that around you does that tighten the circle you feel what I'm saying like you know what I'm saying so for me it's a lot of people know I don't change i don't got to glorify what I do i don't have to glorify my giving back i tell my people all the time I'm sick and tired of paying for lawyers bail money funerals i'm tired of it go build a business go finish school and build a business and come to me with a plan and I'll support that before I bail you out of jail there's a story that you you bought you've bought dozens of houses i bought dozens of houses they said you bought a bunch of people houses man they lying to you where'd you get that from i just saw it on the internet i love it let's talk about it okay you Yeah they said you were watching out for everybody and I was going to tell you even off air like as a man like bro you can't buy everybody house bro that's why you asked me though instead of assuming i could read something about you i'mma ask you man to man look you in your eyes you feel what I'm saying yeah 12 houses they said you bought a dozen houses for your family sorry on something a lot of houses that's a lot of two houses a lot of houses dante do you make friends like I I don't I can tell i don't I got I got brothers i I like they not my friends they if you you you get allowed around my personal space you more than a friend to me like you family just cuz we might not have the same blood like blood don't make you family it just doesn't for me so I really don't um I I I've been failed so much just in life you know it's it's another thing you keep your guard up you know but it's okay to have friends like it's hard but at the same time it's like you know I think that comes in the process of the healing part trying to heal trying to trying to get a bigger understanding because I've been in survival mode my whole life even where I'm at now it's just it's still I'm blessed but it's just still survival you know what I'm saying like where do you find joy though right like pure joy where if I said "Hey Deonte man if you wake up tomorrow and life could be perfect." Where would you go or what would you do to find joy would you know what that was i mean joy is seeing the kids run around mhm seeing the kids run around man like that's joy like going to the gym that's joy the gym's my club anybody that know me they know I get in the gym and I blast the music that's my club i was in the club at 12 13 years old 21 and over clubs at 12 and 13 years old you think I want a club now when I've already did that no way i have no interest cuz I know my purpose i know what I want you feel what I'm saying so for me like I said the gym that's my joy that's my club it really is i love bowling i take my family bowling i love bowling you know my girl got me expanding to you know do more things but I have to even break it down to her you know just who I am like she's still learning who I am what I've been through what I go through cuz it ain't just vanished and it's away like I can make it look good because like I said accountability if you follow the pattern i take accountability i won't never put this burden on nobody around me so there's a there's a lot of things that you know I get joy from but that joy is temporary so you went to Atlanta but you had your career highs in Atlanta before you went over okay well that also explains it cuz he would turn up in the A you avoiding the club in Atlanta you focus on your career highs which is what you My boys was there my boys they they was outside but you was chilling 100% but you was ting in the show it doesn't matter where I'm going you could put me anywhere m you could put the the turnup next door to my house or the next condo down the hall like I'm not going to get nothing out of it man people that really go turn up and go out have fun what you doing you looking for a girl or you a girl you looking for a man or you drinking or you smoking mhm that all that sounds fun to me which is cool though nah it's cool nah I tell I tell my boys I tell my brothers all the time man like y'all have fun i tell my teammates my NBA teammates be tripping i got a real story this past year before I got hurt we played at Atlanta my first game back in Atlanta I told my my teammates was doing you know a little something i said "The only way I go is if we win." And I'm just showing my face to support y'all like "Yo what up shake hand i'm out of there." Yeah we lost i stayed in the Four Seasons hotel you could walk in Magic City and leave 3 minutes later i've been in Magic City picked my food up in the front and I left in 3 minutes you got to sit down for 15 minutes my whole time in Atlanta I never went in Magic City seriously really i went one time when I was with the Spurs one time we just was was in Atlanta right before the trade deadline we went everybody went it was cool i lived in Atlanta never went in Magic City and set got dances threw money no so you never had the Lemon Pepper lose absolutely you heard what I said they picked him up i walked in and I was standing at that booth waiting for my lemon peppers you better believe it but but this is I got to ask a followup about RC's thing like what is your enjoyment you don't seem like you have fun do you fish do you golf do you don't seem like you have fun you seem like you're trying to prove the world wrong it's not even I don't think prove the world wrong it's I think when you know like how I was judged coming into this business the NBA he's he he was a gang member his family gang members and they ghetto and this is real [ __ ] ever said about me you feel what I'm saying so I'm like damn the odds against me like they ain't even saying the good I did to to finish to graduate high school pass the ACT test on myself go to college keep a high enough GPA to play and never get in trouble and they not praising me none of that they talking about the little 11 12 13 14y old that was just a product of his environment that stuck with me like damn if I get into anything they they they throwing me out in 2.5 seconds like wait and I work too hard man i I I came too far to just come this far so I have fun bro i do i love the gym i love my family like we got pool we got stuff I never imagined you know what I'm saying i could play with their toys with them we go watch movies we can go you know i'm trying to I'm trying to heal i'm trying to I'm 28 years old you feel me i'm I've been doing this on my own i ain't had that that that person that that guided me for real i've been doing this on my own since I was 11 i'm trying I'm trying to figure it out i'm trying to understand i'm trying to expand and explore you know what I'm saying his type of fun is new to this colony so ignore him coming off your two best seasons and to be going to a new city new team uh 31 games in fracture hand Achilles how frustrating must that have been this is probably the This is my worst the worst experience in the NBA mhm this is my worst experience in NBA uh nothing but love for New Orleans uh we talking about the city even organization i don't bad badmouth nobody this is just my experience this is what Dejonte went through go through mhm and that trade I don't it wasn't even supposed to happen like that wasn't even the thing like last summer i was here last summer working out in Atlanta you know knew me and Trey Young you know that was you know they shouldn't never did that and they were figuring out what they were doing you know they traded me but that wasn't the team we were talking to that wasn't even a option it happened i'm a competitor so when it happened I'm I'm like damn I'm I'm back in the driver's seat like I was in San Antonio when I say that I'm the point guard i get to make the decisions for everybody around this room i get to help you get another contract help you help you i'd rather see y'all go to the All-Star game before me mhm that's just who I am that's my mentality that's my heart you know what I'm saying so you know I'm at first I'm shocked about the trade you know what I'm saying i'm like damn I'm going to New Orleans i remember when Hurricane Katrina happened and I was like man I'll never go there mhm straight up like this is true story and it happened so it's like what you going to do about it you know and moving is never easy for any professional any person in life you know you got a family at that if I was by myself it would be smooth we got kids my lady you know my brother's coming with me so it's it's a transition that we got to do together and when I say my experience man it's it was it was bad man i get to New Orleans you know training camp's good like I feel healthy everything's good and I'm excited about what's about to happen far as our roster and how camp went and everything went downhill from that moment my mom had a stroke seven days before the first game i leave i go back to Seattle i'm with her she wake up out of ICU she gets in the room and we watching the D i remember yesterday watching the WNBA finals she's just crying and she's crying cuz I'm right there by her side and she's just crying and she can't really talk so I'm like "Damn why you why you what's going on you good like you going to be good you good i'm right here here we all here family here she pointing that basketball like need to go play you know what I'm saying like these these is woman playing no disrespect like I I'm one of the biggest fans of WNBA she's looking like right so I'm like damn i'm like you want me to go play she's like yeah go play you she's just pointing i go play i go back i ain't played basketball my whole time up in Seattle you know it was about 12 13 days I was up there just with her every day I'm in the hospital with her not even thinking about basketball it's my mom's life i never seen my mom she's in ICU this [ __ ] is real you know I go back to New Orleans literally a day before the first game without practicing anything i go play because not only my mom wanted me to go play there was that guilt that you talk about this team traded for me the point guard to run the show keep everything organized i got something to prove to them back what you said you feel like you got to prove mhm should all pivot to the same it all comes to the pot you know what I'm saying so you know I get there and everything's great i break my hand first game yep and I'm out and the [ __ ] that hurt me was that I felt like that was God saying "No you got to be with her." Like she wanted you to go there but nah you broke your hand cuz you got to go rehab and be with her right she needs you more than this game need you you know I go back with her and my mom was out of ICU and made it to a rehab center and then she went backwards she had to get rushed back to ICU so I'm back in Seattle not knowing what's about to happen and just dealing with this dealing with this she recovers thank God to this day she's doing better she can do you know better than what she is but she's better she's been out of the hospital and from that moment I go back and you know the times when I get back you know I made it important to them new Orleans like you know cuz it's it's I'm not the guy i don't want to hear the sad stuff all the time like don't remind me of it you know I appreciate the text and the first time you seeing me but we got a task to attend to we got work to do let's go hoop cuz that's what she would want me to do she wouldn't want me to pout cry and sit in the house under her blanket like nah she taught me to be tough she taught me to keep going so you know I was ready to hoop and from that moment the organization it just it got bad man like as you guys could see like such and such got fired another guy left they brought new people in and it was a situation to where like seriously like I got all these problems going on not only my mom I broke my hand I recovered my mom had a stroke one of my cousins got killed then my uncle overdose damn back to back to back and in the meantime of all this like I'm not getting what I need in organization it's hard for me to get my training table time it's hard for me to get lifts it's hard for me to get my own court time so you can only imagine where my mental is at all right stress i'm stressed i'm mad every day i'm sad i'm angry i I just I don't want to be there at that time like it's so much going on you feel what I'm saying and it's crazy the day I tore my Achilles I'm in the car with my brother driving to the game all this stuff is just wearing on me because I'm seeing something that's going on that I've never experienced in the NBA the NBA's always been the ultimate professionals and everything how you work how you walk how you talk whatever you get everything you know what I'm saying that's never going to be the problem to to to to people to come get your work you know they got food they got everything you need the problems usually come from outside of it or your play you produced or you didn't you know what I'm saying it ain't those things and I'm somebody that's really detailed about my work you know my work is my work i don't play about my work so not only I have my hand my mom my cousin my uncle I'm not even able to get what I need right my mind's in a whole another world i don't even know if I want to play basketball at that time mhm so all this is going on you pop your Achilles what is what's going through your mind when you're on the court playing the Celtics and your Achilles goes the day I was driving to the game my brother was with me we're driving and I'm just venting to him he talks about it to this day like he's like our conversations was just weird like it was like something was going to happen like I told my agent too I'm like man if if something don't shake like something's going to happen i don't know what it is the way that things is going and where my mental is at it wasn't just me it was everybody's mental every player like I hope this bring police to my brothers i hope you know they everybody gets what they need i hope the organization you know get it together like cuz you have the talent but it ain't just the talent you need every dot to connect to have a chance to go win but even that game I just was mentally gone you know what I'm saying like I was just gone it I've never felt this way i don't smoke or drink right so I'm feeling something that I don't even you know what I'm saying i don't understand i'm like why i got hurt the first quarter like right away right away and then what hurt me the more about that situation is when I got hurt right there i got up walked it all went to the back my girls being told my brother's being told "Whatever you need whatever you need you need anything whatever you need." I'm sitting on the bed like damn whatever I need after I tear my Achilles right you know so you know that that that was that but like I said I could be a little crazy i laughed at it honestly my Achilles it is what it is yo uh it is what it is mitch is in San Antonio now san Antonio miss Johnson congrats to him what is it like to be with Greg Papovic to be there at the press conference to have this connection with him and then the person that moves into the head coaching spot is someone you've known for a lot of your life he's the reason why I'm here right now miss Johnson's the reason I'm here right now he's the guy that came and got me out of jail when I was 15 with my uncle him and my uncle's best friends miss Johnson created a AU team for DeJonte Murray called A+ we went around the country that's how I built my name that's how I became a top recruit that's how I got all these scholarships because of Miss Johnson i put the work in but he opened his house he took responsibility as a father as a big brother when he didn't have to he was best friends with my uncle he created a team for me a AA team for me tell he's the reason we came we went into San Antonio like as a package together they'll tell you like we went in together and there was plans for him because of not the Jante because Miss Johnson is smart miss Johnson understands the game knows the game you know what I'm saying he knows how to run a team and that's why I'm not surprised where he's at you know he had a plan and he stuck with his plan he went to the GLeague he played the development he was behind the bench he got on the bench now he's the head coach when you pay your dues and you put the work in and you don't put a timet on the work good things happen so you know for me there was I wasn't just there for Mitch i was there for Miss Johnson i was there for Greg Papovic it was a it was a beautiful transition knowing the story behind it at least for me and Mitch and then how much I love Pop you know what I'm saying so Mitch is That's awesome he's the real deal i love that you are you happy for what with life are you happy all star balling got money kids are you happy it depends what you what you mean about happy bro i'm happy i enjoy this life but the the the money don't make me happy the money don't make me happy i have a beautiful wife i have great kids i have a good time we're not traveling i'm with my kids i am happy are you happy i'm happy with my lady i'm happy with my kids the curse of that though the other half of that is you just see so many people change on you like usually here he change but usually it's the people around you that change you know when you're a good-hearted God-fearing person like myself mhm so when you say that like yeah I'm happy with the blessings and you know like I have a lady that you know loves me the kids my kids that love me but it's like damn when you look at so many people that you would think they just happy for you they not they not happy for me when you genuine and you love everybody unconditionally like that [ __ ] hurt i don't care who you are you feel me but moral of the story I'm heavy i'm about to take a vacation with my family in a couple days i'm happy for sure jonte I think my my last question as we end it man would be you have come such a long way and you keep talking about healing and you've talked about the things that you deal with emotionally and mentally to yourself when are you going to let people in in order to help you uh this show became what it is beyond a shadow of a doubt because Michael Beasley sat right where you were sitting man and told us how long I watched that the other day saying his mom stole from rest in peace uh you know the people around them like that [ __ ] that [ __ ] messed me up yeah like when are when are you going to start letting people help you and letting people be a part of the healing process because you are strong man and you are mature and I can tell the level of emotional intelligence that you have but what you went through is not a one-man job unless that man's name is Jesus when are you going to let people come in and be whether it's an ear whether it's advice or sometimes bro like you got to sit around with people and cry Why are you open to to trying to get to that point when they show consistency of caring about me instead of wanting from me yeah cuz I'm somebody that read the room I know what's going on i can see somebody text me how you doing and then boom can I hold this come right after straight up when you know somebody show me the consistency of man I care about you i really love you man forget what you could do for me what you could do for yourself like I love you the person love you the person instead of wanting these things from this person for sure cuz I know it ain't about me it's bigger than me we all in this together and I know there there there's you know there there there's people that could help you it's just for me my my life my story been so messed up and like I said the survival thing and when you just been failed by so many people it's it's it's tough you know but I think that's the most important you know consistency is showing you care you don't want nothing from me cuz I show you I care i hit you i hit people on birthdays i remember everybody's birthdays holidays i'm the one that send the message i don't wait this for you to send me the message i'll tell you happy birthday merry Christmas happy new year i send that not to one two three four five people all the people I care about actions speak louder than words moral of the story you are an extremely special human man i I'm so grateful for you bro but like I you know I've been trying to do this forever uh and it was honestly better than I even thought the the conversation the way you opened up and uh my hopes is you enjoyed it enough and you feel safe enough where man we could do this again i think it's so much more i love chopping it up with you about y'all are real man like I said I besides the football you know like I know my history of football you know but besides that because we're bigger than athletes we're bigger than sports you feel me and all y'all represent uh what I feel like I represent you know being a great human being you feel what I'm saying and just wanting to make the world a better place you can't change everybody nope we could change one person we did our job you feel what I'm saying so you know that's just respect and love to all of y'all man that's why I had to give you all your flowers at the beginning of the show man i appreciate you bro that was dope my boy appreciate you man hell yeah i don't know man i might be limitless i witness it got my people feeling way up on the mission got me up knowing me i got the key on the vision i can trust trust limitless [ __ ] still be kind it to here to witness it got my people feeling militant way I'm feeling me