Jamal Murray injury news and updates

How often has Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray been injured throughout his career? The short answer, not long, but following a severe ACL tear late in the 2020-21 season and his team’s championship aspirations, there’s going to be a spotlight on the Canadian’s knees for the foreseeable future.

Before the torn ACL, the longest stretch of games missed by Murray had been ten, proving to be incredibly durable throughout his short career.

Jamal Murray injury updates

Six months after his ACL surgery, Jamal Murray is back on the court and dunking before the game via Harrison Wind, DNVR Sports.

Jamal has been progressing well and is showing off his return to form in single player exercises. This training camp video from early October 2021 shows Murray putting up 3-pointers by himself via Mike Singer, The Denver Post.

Tim Connelly says there’s no timetable for Jamal’s return

During Tim Connelly’s end of season press conference, he said that there is no firm timetable for Jamal Murray’s return next season.

The typical return time for an ACL injury is just under 12 months and teams can roughly say that if a player gets injured at ‘X’ time in the year, they’ll be back at the same time the following season. This might be different for Jamal since the 2020-21 season was shortened to accommodate the following season. A typical 12-month timeline might run into the playoffs.

Connelly added that the ACL injury “won’t have too much bearing” on the team’s offseason decisions. He added that the team expects him to be back and better than ever.

Jamal Murray injury history

Jamal Murray torn ACL, 2021

Late in a regular season matchup against the Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray drove past Andrew Wiggins, hoping to score a quick two points at the rim, cutting into the Warriors’ lead.

He never truly elevated off the floor as his knee buckled below him without any contact from an opposition player and he had unfortunately torn the ACL in his left leg.

It came at a terrible time for the Nuggets who were on a roll after the All-Star Break and mid-season acquisition of Aaron Gordon. Up until that point, Murray had played in 48 games with a career-high average of 21.2 points, tied career-high 4.8 assists.

Nikola Jokic also went on to win the 2020-21 NBA MVP, playing out the entire playoff run without his running mate. As Jokic told Ohm Youngmisuk, ESPN after the injury was announced:

"“It’s a sad thing, of course. Me and him, we have a lot of connections on the floor. We are really good with each other on the court, and we are going to miss him on the team. He is a big part of our team.”"

Jamal Murray knee soreness, 2021

Before his ACL injury on Apr. 12 against the Golden State Warriors, Jamal Murray missed four straight games due to knee soreness in his right knee.

He had played 37 minutes against the Orlando Magic two days prior, not showing any signs of pain or injury on his way to 22 points and five rebounds.

The day of the Warriors game, right after his four-game absence, Jamal was listed as “questionable” on the injury list.

Jamal Murray sprained ankle, 2020

The durable Jamal Murray missed ten straight games in early 2020 with a sprained left ankle according to Nick Kosmider and Shams Charania, The Athletic. He returned in a February matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers, scoring 20 points in just over 19 minutes of action.

Not too long after this injury, the season was cancelled mid-season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jamal Murray left ankle sprain, 2019

Jamal Murray was ruled out of the second game of his career against the Philadelphia 76ers in Jan. 2019 with a left ankle sprain. He ended up missing six total games before returning.

After the injury, his season average of points dipped from 18.2 to 17.8 but shot the ball with higher efficiency. Playing in his first-ever playoffs that season, he didn’t miss a single game and averaged 21.3 points in 14 contests.