Pelicans Guard Murray Accuses His Own Team of 'Sabotage' in Posts He Later Deleted
New Orleans Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray has accused his own team of "sabotage." He made the allegation in two posts on the social media platform X late on Wednesday night, although he deleted both posts shortly afterwards.
The outburst followed a heavy 145-111 home loss to the Brooklyn Nets. After the defeat, an X account named NBACentral pointed out that the Pelicans are 1-8 this season when Murray plays and 3-0 when he sits. Murray missed three games earlier this month for the birth of his son.
Responding to that, the 30-year-old Murray wrote that, given what is going on inside, it sounded as if someone had been put up to making the comment, declaring: "THE 'SABOTAGE' IS REAL!!" He deleted the post a short time later.
In a separate reply to a clip posted by the Pelicans podcast ProPelsTalk, Murray blamed teammate Saddiq Bey. The clip showed a pass Murray threw for Bey ending in a turnover. Rather than accept blame for the bad pass, Murray faulted Bey's floor spacing and claimed the entire roster is unhappy behind closed doors. In his words, asking the whole team individually how they feel would reveal the real picture.
The defeat was the Pelicans' fourth straight loss, dropping them to 4-8. Just two nights earlier, Golden State had handed New Orleans the worst regular-season loss in franchise history, a 51-point rout that ended 138-87.
Murray himself was quiet against Brooklyn: five points on 2-of-6 shooting in 28 minutes, with four assists and two turnovers. He has scored in single digits in three of his last four outings.
Reports have also surfaced that Murray is unhappy with his role and has clashed with head coach Jamahl Mosley, whom New Orleans hired this past offseason.
After Wednesday's blowout, Pelicans star Zion Williamson called the team's effort "unacceptable" and urged everyone to look in the mirror, including Murray.
Deleting the posts could not undo the damage of publicly throwing a teammate and his own front office under the bus; Murray's rant has laid bare the discontent inside the team.
