The Pelicans are already dealing with a messy start, and Dejounte Murray just made the noise around the team a lot louder.
After New Orleans was blasted 145-111 at home by the Nets on Wednesday, Murray jumped into the conversation on social media in response to an NBA Central post pointing out the team’s split results with him in the lineup and without him. The post noted that the Pelicans are 1-8 when Murray plays and 3-0 when he doesn’t, while also highlighting his team-worst minus-33 against Brooklyn.
Murray’s answer suggested he believed there was something bigger going on behind the scenes.
“From what’s going on inside, this sounds like someone hit you to say this,” Murray wrote in the since-deleted response captured by NBA Central. “The sabotage is real!”
It was a pointed line, and Murray didn’t back it up with any specifics. He didn’t name anyone, and he didn’t explain what he meant by “what’s going on inside.”
On the floor, the numbers from Wednesday didn’t help his case. Gautam Varier of Fadeaway World reported that Murray finished with five points on 2-of-6 shooting, along with two rebounds and four assists. He’s averaging 13.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists, and he’s had single-digit scoring in three of his last four games.
The bigger issue for New Orleans is that the team’s record with Murray isn’t the kind of clean answer people want to make it out to be. A nine-game sample with him and a three-game sample without him doesn’t settle much on its own, especially when opponents, lineups and the rest of the roster’s play all shape those results.
What is clear is that the frustration is no longer staying quiet. The loss dropped the Pelicans to 4-8, and it came right after a 51-point defeat to the Warriors. Zion Williamson also spoke bluntly after that one, calling the performance unacceptable and saying fans and the city deserved better.
Williamson pushed the message toward accountability. Murray took it somewhere else entirely, hinting at something happening behind closed doors. For now, that’s all anyone can say for sure.
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