(Denver) In Denver, there are not one, but two nuggets to guide the Nuggets to a possible first NBA title, both Jamal Murray, the perfect complement to the essential Nikola Jokic, excels, returned even stronger, two years later a serious knee injury.
Wednesday, during the victory (109-94) obtained in Miami, the Canadian rear entered the history of the league with the Serbian pivot, by becoming the first duo to succeed, not only each a triple double in a match of a final, but also by adding at least 30 points scored, something never seen before, whether in the regular season or in the playoffs.
When you look at Jokic’s stratospheric performances, there seem to be very few places left in the sun for his teammates. Yet Murray, already irresistible with his 32.5 average points to sweep the Lakers in the Western Conference final, is much more than a lieutenant, in the eyes of the most useful double player: “he plays phenomenally. He is a real leader, the energy he shows is incredible and we are just following him”.
The 26-year-old’s 34-point, 10-assist, 10-rebound feat to help the Nuggets lead 2-1 in the series against the Heat was also an immediate response to his performance on the inside during the the defeat conceded three days earlier in Colorado.
555 days without playing
“I’m really proud of Jamal, because I’ve seen in the last 48 hours how much he took for himself” this setback, said his coach Michael Malone.
And to add: “It was not only him who was responsible, it was me and all of us. But that’s what champions do. That’s what warriors do: they fight back. Let’s forget the stats for a second. I felt his energy, and he was there fully living the moment. Jamal is a guy who thrives and excels on big occasions. Nothing scares him. »
In seven years, the coach got to know his player well, arriving in Denver a year after him and Jokic, in 2016 just after being drafted in 7e position. He saw him grow, made him progress, reprimanded him – “you underestimate yourself if you think you are only a pitcher” –, also consoled him when his career was put in jeopardy. caused by a rupture of the cruciate ligaments in the spring of 2021.
Murray, whose talent burst into the open the previous summer, in the anti-COVID-19 bubble of Orlando where the Nuggets managed to thwart the odds in the playoffs, eliminating Utah and the Clippers after having nevertheless been trailing 3-1 , before falling to the Lakers of future champions LeBron James, had to wait 555 days to become a basketball player again.
kung fu and meditation
“I remember being on the bus with him that night. He had tears in his eyes, I hugged him and said, “My, man, we are with you, we love you, we will help you. And not only are you going to overcome all of this, but you’re going to come back stronger,’” Malone recently shared.
It didn’t take much for Murray, fearing that the Nuggets would trade him with another player, recovered from this hard blow and showed a steely mind, inherited from his hard training under the cup of his father Roger Murray, who was the first to see in him the seed of a champion.
At the age of 7, Jamal had to make 30 consecutive free throws, before he could stop. The winters were long and harsh in Kitchener, where he was born, in Ontario, and the sessions even longer, made up of push-ups in the snow, running backwards or in sidesteps on uphill terrain, dribbling on patches of ice, shots with the left hand to force ambidexterity…
“We impose limits on ourselves as human beings, physically and mentally. But why not do more? “, justified in 2016 Murray, whose other components of his training are both kung fu and meditation. And this each day which brings him closer to a possible first coronation, so coveted.