As a freshman at the University of Washington in 2015–16, Murray was named second-team All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 All-Freshman Team after averaging 16.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.8 steals in 33.5 minutes while starting all 34 games. On March 23, 2016, Murray declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final three years of college eligibility.
Professional career
San Antonio Spurs (2016–present)
2016–17 season
On June 23, 2016, Murray was selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the 29th overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft. He joined the Spurs for the 2016 NBA Summer League, and on July 14, he signed his rookie scale contract with the team. On October 29, 2016, in the Spurs' third game of the 2016–17 season, Murray made his NBA debut. In just under nine minutes off the bench, he recorded two rebounds and one assist in a 98–79 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. On January 12, 2017, he scored a season-high 10 points in a 134–94 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. He surpassed that mark on January 19, scoring 24 points in a 118–104 win over the Denver Nuggets. He became the youngest player in Spurs history to score at least 24 points, breaking Tony Parker's record. During his rookie season, he had multiple assignments with the Austin Spurs of the NBA Development League. On May 5, 2017, with Tony Parker ruled out for the rest of the playoffs with a leg injury, the Spurs opted to start Murray at point guard in Game 3 of their second-round series against the Houston Rockets. He scored two points in 15 minutes, as the Spurs took a 2–1 lead in the series with a 103–92 win. He helped the Spurs clinch the series against the Rockets with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in a Game 6 win. He became just the fourth rookie in Spurs history to record a point/rebound double-double in a playoff game, joining David Robinson, Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard. The Spurs went on to lose to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.
2017–18 season
In the Spurs' season opener on October 18, 2017, Murray had 16 points, five rebounds, and two assists while starting in place of Parker in a 107–99 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Five days later, he recorded 14 rebounds in a 101–97 win over the Toronto Raptors. In the Spurs' previous game against the Chicago Bulls, Murray hauled in 10 rebounds. Murray became just the second Spurs point guard to have multiple double-digit rebounding performances in the same season—Rod Strickland had two double-digit rebounding games in the 1989–90 season. On December 9, 2017, he tied his career-high with 14 rebounds in a 104–101 win over the Phoenix Suns. On January 21, 2018 against the Indiana Pacers, Murray started over long-time Spurs starting point guard Tony Parker as a coach's decision by Gregg Popovich. Murray had eight points, seven rebounds, four assists, and four turnovers in 28 minutes in a 94–86 loss. Two days later, he had 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals in his second start since replacing a healthy Tony Parker, helping the Spurs defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 114–102. On February 3, 2018, in a 120–111 loss to the Utah Jazz, Murray became the first player since Kawhi Leonard with 500 points and 300 rebounds in his first 100 games with the Spurs. On March 19, 2018, in an 89–75 win over the Warriors, Murray had eight rebounds to set the franchise record for rebounds in a single season by a point guard. Murray reached 385 rebounds in 1,436 minutes, surpassing Johnny Moore's total of 378 collected in 2,689 minutes. In Game 4 of the Spurs' first-round playoff series against the Warriors, Murray was 3 for 3 on 3-pointers in the first half, the most 3s made in the playoffs without a miss by a Spurs player since Steve Kerr and Patty Mills were 4 for 4 in a half. At the season's end, he earned NBA All-Defensive Second Team honors, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to be named All-Defense.
