Before becoming one of four players in NBA history with two 50-point games in a single playoff series, Jamal Murray fought to make his name.
Before scoring a combined 221 points in the First Round of the Western Conference Playoffs, Jamal Murray fought to become the leader of the Denver Nuggets.
Before emerging as a leader in the NBA, Jamal Murray fought to keep a reigning SEC Champion Kentucky in the national title conversation.
Before he stepped foot in Rupp Arena, Jamal Murray ranked 71st on the 2015 Recruiting Services Consensus Index.
Most threes in a series in NBA playoff history:
— StatMuse (@statmuse) September 2, 2020
33 — Donovan Mitchell (this series)
32 — Jamal Murray (this series)
32 — Steph Curry (2016 Finals)
32 — Steph Curry (2016 WCF)
30 — Klay Thompson (2016 WCF) pic.twitter.com/tKJyeEyMZj
The Journey Begins
Nothing has been handed to the Kitchener, Canada, native. He started his first collegiate game as a true freshman against Albany and scored 19 points and was two assists shy of a double-double.
Murray started the rest of Kentucky’s 36 games and scored below 11 points just once, averaging 20.0 points per game with a 45.4 field goal percentage. His performance vaulted him to get taken by the Denver Nuggets with the seventh-overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.
Averaging 21.5 minutes per game and seeing action in all 82 games, Murray earned a spot on the 2016-17 All-Rookie team. He earned a starting role the following season and shot 45.1%, including a 90.5% free-throw percentage that was good for fifth-best in the NBA.
During the 2018-19 season, Murray averaged 18.2 points per game and notched 20+ points in 29 games.
The Nuggets believed they had a budding 21-year-old franchise cornerstone, and they made sure to lock in a deal.
On July 24, 2019, Murray signed a five-year $169 million contract extension to remain in Denver after he helped lead the Nuggets to a Northwest Division title for the first time in nine seasons.
OMG pic.twitter.com/pvRTUXQVg6
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) September 4, 2020
The Road Ahead
The deal cemented a point guard and center duo alongside Nikola Jokic, who had signed a five-year deal of his own the previous summer, for the foreseeable future.
With stability and direction, the suspension of the 2019-20 season didn’t knock Murray off course. After a 150-day gap between game action, he produced a double-double in a seeding game against the Utah Jazz.
The two teams met again in the playoffs, and the Jazz had taken a 3-1 lead over the three-seed Nuggets.
Murray remained calm, cool, and collected and scored 109 points over three games to win the series. Denver was back in the conference-semifinals where they are tasked with taking on grizzled veteran Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Now 23-years-old, Jamal Murray will be a household name for a while in the Western Conference. With his confidence and flair, he is only getting started.
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