LaVine, Dejounte Murray excited to be All-Star teammates originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
CLEVELAND — Zach LaVine and Dejounte Murray have known each other for north of a decade. Both born and raised in the Seattle area, they competed against each other growing up, and maintain a deep bond to this day.
“That’s my brother. I love him to death,” Murray said of LaVine on Saturday, speaking from the podium he earned by being named as an All-Star injury replacement. “We always been good to each other, we just became closer and closer.”
That connection was formed because of their northwest roots, but deepened by mutual respect and shared experience.
Murray, 25, is making his first All-Star appearance on the back of a stellar season for the San Antonio Spurs, averaging 19.9 points, 9.3 assists, 8.3 rebounds and a league-leading 2.0 steals, while ranking second in the NBA in triple-doubles (11) behind only Nikola Jokić.
He credits LaVine, now a two-time All-Star at 26, as an inspiration for the work ethic that helped him ascend to that status.
“He works like he's still trying to make it,” Murray said of LaVine. “And I even reminded him, like, that helps me out. That motivates me.”
Murray has always known that about LaVine, but his appreciation grew even more as the Chicago Bulls guard guided him through rehab for a torn ACL suffered in October 2018. LaVine suffered the same injury while with the Minnesota Timberwolves in February 2017.
“I got to watch him rehab, I got to watch him come back out on top with everything, so I was always asking him questions all the time,” Murray said. “His work ethic speaks for itself, so that motivated me from Day 1.”
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“We're really close, and being able to give a personal experience of what I went through and what I was thinking, and different workouts, and (telling him) there's gonna be up and down days. Pretty much anything,” LaVine said. “Open-phone policy, because we're that close. And I'm just so happy for him and obviously he worked his butt off. He works as hard as anyone I know.”
There’s that mutual respect, which LaVine also flashed by advocating Murray’s All-Star case in the run-up to the weekend.
“I don't want to say he's underrated because I don't think he is, I think he's one of the best players in the NBA,” LaVine said of Murray. “But for the national media to see how good he's become each and every year, a guy that works extremely hard and has really came from nothing to get to the NBA, to the All-Star game, it means the world to me (to see him selected).”
Come Sunday night, the two friends will be teammates as reserves on Kevin Durant’s squad, an opportunity both have looked forward to for some time.
“Can't wait to just enjoy it,” Murray said of the headline event. “We probably talked about it about 10 different times. But I think it'll be crazy in the game when we're actually playing (together). It'll be great.”