Hawks’ Dejounte Murray says he has history with game official he bumped from time with Spurs

SAN ANTONIO — Former San Antonio Spurs guard Dejounte Murray was disciplined by the NBA and is set to miss the Hawks’ pivotal Game 5 playoff matchup with the Boston Celtics after being suspended.

The suspension stems from Murray making inappropriate contact with and verbally abusing a game official in Game 4 of the Hawks-Celtics playoff series.

The incident occurred at the conclusion of the Hawks’ 129-121 loss to the Celtics on April 23 at State Farm Arena.  

A video surfaced showing Murray bumping the referee, Gediminas Petraitis, shouting at him as he walked off the court.

And although he will not play against Boston, Murray took responsibility for his actions while speaking with the media at Atlanta’s practice.

“I’m a grown man, and I hold my own and I take full responsibility for not being able to play for my teammates, and the fans, and just the organization as a whole,” Murray said. “But at the end of the day, there’s a lot that led up to that, and I think a lot of players could relate to those frustrations.”

Apparently, Murray revealed his opinion that he never had a solid relationship with Petraitis as he does with other game officials.

He says this was building up with the NBA ref since his time with the Spurs.

“A lot of ignoring, a lot of brushing me off, brushing my teammates off when asking questions of how we could be better,” Murray said. “And even just with that individual, it goes back to San Antonio, where, I don’t know why that person treated me the way he treated me over the years.”

He also said he should not have been suspended.

Murray didn’t have any moments on the court as a Spur with Petraitis or any other referee similar to what happened in Game 4.

There was a time he tossed a ball at a ref during a road game at Memphis but it did not rise to the level of a physical interaction. He was ultimately ejected from the game.

He will serve his suspension Tuesday, April 25 when the Hawks visit the Celtics for Game 5 of the series at TD Garden in Boston. 

He is averaging 25.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 2.3 steals through four games in this series and his absence could cause the Hawks to see their season end with the Celtics leading the series, 3-1.

Twitter: @KENS5, @JeffGSpursZone