It’s been mostly injuries and frustration for Jamal Murray since stamping his talent with a stunning playoffs run. NBA rivals have seen nothing yet, he tells SHANNON GILL.
Denver Nugget playmaker Jamal Murray may not be the NBA’s biggest name, but he was building a reputation that most NBA stars would envy.
After Murray set the bubble playoff period alight in 2020 he stamped himself as a player that goes to another level in the postseason.
Which makes it all the more frustrating for him and Nuggets fans that an ACL knee injury has kept him out of the previous two playoff campaigns.
“The worst part is missing two playoffs,” Murray tells CODE Sports
“I feel like I missed out on a lot. That sucks because you know our team is better than what we showed.
“We just weren’t healthy. That’s why we’re looking forward to this year and coming back full strength.”
Murray is in town for the opening of the NBA Store at the Emporium in Melbourne, the first of its kind in Australia, joining New York, London and Paris as store locations around the world.
That a Sydney store is planned soon is a measure of the fervor there is for the NBA in Australia. Despite the relatively small population, Australia perennially sits either No.1 or No.2 across the world for NBA League Pass subscriptions.
Another measure is the fans who turned up to meet Murray.
Perhaps the AFL’s hottest emerging double act, Nick and Josh Daicos turned fanboys as they and a swag of Collingwood teammates waited patiently to chat and pose for selfies with Murray.
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Fans globally will be watching Murray when he finally steps back on to an NBA court this season after 18 months on the sidelines.
The buzz he created in the bubble has been the tease that Nuggets fans have been hanging on ever since.
In 19 playoff games played in the bubble in 2020, Murray averaged 26.5 points and 6.6 assists, up from career regular season averages of 16.3 and 3.8 respectively. He scored 40 points in three separate elimination games and became the first player since Michael Jordan to score 40 in three consecutive playoff games.
The Utah Jazz know all too well what Murray is capable of, given that he dropped 50 points on them twice within three games during the golden run, but the man himself says it’s just the beginning.
“That wasn’t even my best though,” he warns.
“There’s another level that you guys haven’t seen yet, so I’m looking forward to being back out there with Joker.”
‘Joker’ is his superstar teammate, Nikola Jokic, the winner of the last two NBA MVPs.
With a franchise player in his prime, you can understand the frustration in the Nuggets camp about not having Murray there to partner him on the last two playoff runs. It could be the missing piece for the title puzzle.
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When Murray wrecked his ACL late in the 2020-21 regular season, he was averaging a career-high 21.2 points per game, Jokic was on his way to another league MVP and the Nuggets had won 17 of their last 20 games.
Since then, it’s been frustration upon frustration for the emerging star. The Nuggets have made inglorious playoff exits without Murray after the heights of their conference finals run in 2019-20.
Throughout the 2021-22 season, there was a constant countdown in Denver and around the league for a possible return that would lift the Nuggets into genuine title contention.
“I was working towards it and you want to stay mentally locked in to try to be there,” he tells CODE, although ultimately his season was conceded.
“I wouldn’t have been the player I am now in the playoffs last season. That would have been a disappointment for me, to come back and not be able to move.”
Eighteen months out could sap the confidence of anyone, but Murray eventually found some positives and used the time to refine parts of his game.
“When you can’t do something that you love it kinda gets to your head sometimes,” he says.
“But I’m here and to think how far I’ve come since then, man, it’s night and day.”
“Time heals and I got to see improvement in my leg and stuff that I needed to work on.
“Stuff that I couldn’t do, I can do now.”
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Murray is excited to be in Australia and has already caught up with his old Kentucky college roommate, Australian NBL player Isaac Humphries. The newly-signed Melbourne United big man is also coming off a knee injury, so there was plenty for the good friends to chat about.
With the Nuggets signing Jack White, he will have an Australian teammate this season too.
The team celebrated White’s birthday last week together and Murray says he has already made a good impression in Denver.
“He holds the record for the Nuggets 100 threes competition as of right now – but I haven’t done it yet!” he laughs.
After Murray jets out from his break in Australia, all of his attention will focus on restarting his career, with a plan of building his minutes gradually through the pre-season and early-season schedule.
“I’m feeling good. The more I play, the more confidence I get.”
And a healthy Jamal Murray, with his proven ability to step up in the post-season, may be the co-pilot Jokic needs to take the Nuggets to the promised land of a first NBA title.
“We have confidence that we beat anybody and we’ve shown that year after year,” he says.
“It’s going to be an exciting year, there’s going to be a lot of energy in the building.”
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