Pelicans’ Dejounte Murray faced far more than rehab on long road back

The Pelicans will welcome Dejounte Murray back tonight. That part is easy to write.

The harder part is everything it took to get here.

Murray’s long road back from a torn Achilles was never just about rehab timelines or minutes restrictions. In the months before the injury, he was dealing with far more than basketball.

His mother suffered a stroke. His cousin was killed. His uncle overdosed. Then came the tear in January 2025, the kind of injury that can derail careers even in the best circumstances.

“I’ve been through so much,” Murray said, via Rod Walker of NOLA.com. “This is part of the journey. Injuries are a part of sports. It’s not how you fall. It’s how you get back up. For me, it was attacking the process day-by-day and staying level-headed and trying to find some positive and fun out of it.”

Perspective tends to do that.

At 16-42, the Pelicans are well outside the playoff picture. But they also don’t control their 2026 first-round pick, which means there’s no incentive to shut things down. Head coach James Borrego is eager to see what Murray brings back to the group, even this late in a lost season.

“Dejounte will raise our level,” Borrego said. “He’s worked his tail off, so there’s probably a little bit of relief of ‘I’m finally back.’ But more than anything, I just want him to go out there and compete and embrace the moment.”