Jamal Murray made it look easy. His shoulders were relaxed, his grin discernible from the nosebleeds. He yielded two basketballs, one in each hand, and that fittingly seemed to elicit twice the usual joy and confidence as he goofed around with a couple of Nuggets understudies.
It was Nov. 24, and Murray was putting on a pregame ball-handling clinic for teammates DaRon Holmes and Curtis Jones in Memphis. He dribbled one between his legs and the other behind his back in the same motion, seamlessly transferring both from one hand to the other — synchronized, smooth, effortless. “Showing off” would be another way of putting it, Jones joked.
Just because dribbling with two balls is a common youth basketball drill doesn’t mean the pros are automatically masters at it. Holmes and Jones took their turns after Murray demonstrated the trick. Holmes encountered a mental roadblock. He picked up his dribble before even trying to go between the legs or behind the back. Jones got closer but fumbled in an awkward attempt.
Murray’s smile didn’t waver as he looked on, poking fun at them. Ten days later, Jones was still determined to replicate Murray.
“I’m getting better at it man, game by game. I’m getting better,” he insisted to The Denver Post. “I think in about four or five games, we’ll check back in and I’ll be a pro. I’ve gotta show him I can do it too.”
After all, what rookie wouldn’t want Murray’s approval right now?
His skill has always been enough to demand attention, but his application of it has been inconsistent throughout his career — particularly at this time of year. Traditionally a slow starter, Murray entered this season fixated on having “a good November.” He was in better physical shape. He was uninhibited by injuries or insufficient rest, as was the case in recent years. He was settled in more to the inherent pressure of his max contract, which he signed in 2024.
The Nuggets have been overjoyed and captivated by his start.
“I hate talking about All-Star Games and all this stuff,” first-year coach David Adelman said recently, “but he’s playing at a level right now that is winning basketball.”
Adelman can roll his eyes at the grandeur of the All-Star label — he recently referred to the annual event as a “glorified pickup game” — but it’s nonetheless a mantle of symbolic importance to this era of Nuggets basketball. One of the defining discussion points surrounding Nikola Jokic’s career so far is that he’s never had a teammate make an All-Star or All-NBA team. Stripped of all context, it can be weaponized as a badge of honor for Jokic or as an incriminating commentary on Denver’s roster-building.
But Murray is the context. He’s the star who’s not an All-Star. And this could be the year he breaks through.
“I just go play basketball,” he said this week, playing coy when asked about his candidacy. “I mean, that’s up to you guys to like it or not.”
Until now, he’s been held back only by his pre-Christmas track record. Certainly not by his talent. The All-Star Game happens to take place in February, so voting doesn’t account for the full body of work in any season. Adelman has gone so far as to claim that Murray is “one of the best players of this generation,” pinpointing playoff success. He elaborated on that assertion in Indianapolis this week.
“All I know is he’s got a ring in his house. He’s got a triple-double in the Finals. He’s got multiple 50-point games in the playoffs,” Adelman said. “The amount of games we’ve won this decade. And obviously Jok has been there, too. But that’s been the standard — those two guys. Over and over and over, every year. And up to this point this season, I would say his level of play has been very, very above-average.”
It’s not that he’s transcending his previously established talent level. Nuggets guard Bruce Brown is adamant that Murray was better during the 2023 championship run, especially the Western Conference Finals. “Are you (kidding) me?” Brown told The Denver Post. “He was going ballistic against the Lakers.”
It’s just the timing. Finally, Murray is producing at a rate consistent with his talent in November. This is the first time he has averaged over 20 points in his first 20 games of a season. His previous career-best was 19.4. Now it’s a resounding 24.7.
“He is a big shot-maker and a big-time tough shot-maker,” Jokic said. “He loves those moments.”
In six of the last seven years at that 20-game mark, Murray’s field goal percentage was under 46% and his 3-point efficiency was under 37%. He reached that juncture shooting 50.3% this season, distinguishing himself alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Donovan Mitchell, Austin Reaves and Norman Powell as the only guards in the NBA eclipsing 50% on 15 or more shots per game. Outside the arc, Murray improved to 45.2% on Wednesday after a remarkable 52-point performance in Indiana.
“All-Star, yes, that’s very valuable thing to have. But I’m just happy for him that he’s having one of the greatest seasons of his career,” backup center Jonas Valanciunas said. “He’s doing a tremendous job. So I’m happy for that. Then all those votes are gonna come in, and all these statistics and (crap). I’m happy that he’s having a great year. … He’s bringing guys up. He’s trying to push everybody. He’s a leader. That’s his mentality.”
“He’ll be an All-Star this year,” Brown declared bluntly, “for sure.”
More interesting to him is the set of circumstances that prevented an All-Star nod before now.
“He doesn’t have the accolades just because the West is so deep at the guard position,” Brown continued. “So many great players. And he’s playing with one of the greatest players of all time, so it’s kind of tough (statistically). But I do think he is one of the best players.”
The All-Star format will be different this season as the league pivots to a scrimmage between U.S.-born and international players. Five starters and seven reserves will still be selected from each conference, with coaches choosing the reserves and a combination of players, fans and media voting on starters.
But if the pool of All-Stars doesn’t adhere to the 16-to-8 ratio of American to international players desired by the league, then commissioner Adam Silver will name extra players in order to reach those minimums — a rule that mostly highlights the silliness of the whole endeavor.
“Maybe it’s gonna be bad like every other year,” Jokic said Friday.
Still, the accolade matters to players. Murray acknowledged himself before the season that making an All-Star team remains a career goal. That he hasn’t yet, Valanciunas told The Post, is “bull-(crap).”
But on a game-to-game basis, Murray is playing as if he’s unburdened by his candidacy. He often gets blitzed on pick-and-rolls when he staggers with the bench unit without Jokic. He sprayed the ball around Friday to shepherd the Nuggets back from a 23-point deficit. Then he made two spectacular defensive plays in the last 30 seconds to secure their third-largest comeback win in franchise history.
From Adelman’s point of view, that display was every bit as impressive as the 50-piece in Indiana, every bit as worthy of All-Star attention precisely because of what he didn’t feel like he had to do.
“The way he’s playing, he gets 52 and you think you’re gonna come out and shoot 25 times, why not?” Adelman said. “He goes 8 for 16 instead and gets 23 (points) and 12 (assists) and just kind of takes whatever the game is giving him. … He’s playing as good as anybody right now.”