Jamal Murray decided it wasn’t worth returning to the court in the 2021-22 season and while it put a cap on how far the Denver Nuggets could’ve gone in the playoffs, it was the right call.
At his end-of-season press conference, Murray said that he didn’t feel great about pushing himself to play given he wasn’t 100 percent:
"“I remember saying at the beginning of my rehab, I want to come back when I’m 100 percent and not 85. I don’t think I’m 85 right now. I know I can go get a bucket. But in terms of the intensity of the playoffs, I’m just not there yet.”"
Despite Jamal not feeling ready to play, there were external voices that said he might return to the court, bringing up the expectations of the Denver Nuggets fanbase.
At the end of January, Zach Lowe, ESPN reported that both Jamal and Michael Porter Jr. could return to the court by the end of the season but a late March 2022 report from Mike Singer, The Denver Post stated that the former Kentucky guard is “not close” to returning this season.
These are only two instances but after months of maybes, Denver Nuggets president of basketball operations, Tim Connelly, told Tyler Polumbus and DMac on ‘The Drive’, a local radio segment, that the decision is “100 percent” up to Jamal on whether he wants to return or not:
"“We want him to feel really no pressure, we want him to know the organization has his best interests in mind. When he’s ready, he’ll get back out there. He’s done a great job rehabbing, he looks really, really good and I know he’s chomping at the bit to get back out there.”"
I suggested at the time that this “no pressure” approach only added to the pressure and Jamal eventually took to Twitter himself, telling fans that he wants to be out there but injuries are holding him back:
Y’all don’t think I wanna be out there huh.. crazy
— Jamal Murray (@BeMore27) April 19, 2022
Who knows how the first-round series would’ve played out if Murray was playing but after losing in five games to the Golden State Warriors, it didn’t look like an injured Jamal was going to win three more games after not playing for over a year.
A player to compare Jamal’s recovery to is Zach LaVine who tore his ACL in early February 2017. LaVine returned nearly a full calendar year later, in mid-January 2018, and finished off the season with the Chicago Bulls.
In those 24 games, LaVine shot poorly from the floor and his averaged dipped across the board but with no playoff aspirations, the focus there was getting reps in games instead of winning games.
Assuming Murray did return, he might have faced a similar trajectory but instead of playing 24 meaningless games for the Bulls, Michael Malone would’ve needed him to produce as the Nuggets fought to avoid the Play-In tournament.
The following season for Zach was a career year. He finished off his age-23 season averaging over 20 points for the first time in his career and started to grow into the elite scorer he is today. There’s reason to believe Jamal Murray can jump right back into his groove on opening night next season, no slow ramp up.
This, coupled with a healthy Michael Porter Jr. and some offseason adjustments, could lead to a lot of wins for the Denver Nuggets.
To wrap up his press conference, Jamal says that he will continue his rehab and focus on playing at the start of next season at full strength:
"“You’re tested in so many different ways. From people not knowing where you’re at, to you not knowing where you’re at, to you not knowing when you’re going to be healthy again.“It’s definitely made me a stronger person and I’m looking forward to unleashing that next year.”"
Instead of a portion of Murray pushing himself to play in the playoffs, the Denver Nuggets enter the 2022-23 season with a fully healthy Jamal, MPJ, and two-time MVP, Nikola Jokic. This is a much better outcome than any playoff push.