Can Denver Nuggets’ Jamal Murray be an All-Star this season?
The pathway of Jamal Murray’s career has never been a straight line. For the Denver Nuggets, he’s been one of the best players over the past few seasons. He’s proven to be one of the league’s premier scorers and secondary stars. The tandem of Nikola Jokić and Murray have had success and were the top players in the Denver Nuggets’ recent championship victory.
Flashing back to the 2020-21 season, the Nuggets were a title contender. Sadly, tragedy struck, and Murray tore his ACL near the end of the regular season, which really hurt Denver’s title chances. Eventually, they lost in the playoffs against the Phoenix Suns, and then lost in the first round the next season after Murray missed the whole season.
Statistically, Murray played like a superstar in the playoffs, as he averaged 26.1 points, 7.1 assists, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. He played 40.0 minutes per game, which isn’t easy. He looked like he did not lose a step after his ACL injury, and looked even better than before.
Now that Murray has been etched in Denver Nuggets history, he is now finally being respected as one of the league’s best players. Even though he’s an NBA champion, his accolades are a bit barren, especially considering his stats. He’s one of the best players in the whole NBA, but all he has to his resume at this point is an All-Rookie 2nd Team appearance back in the 2016-17 season and a championship ring.
Now that he’s being respected as one of the NBA’s greatest guards, can Jamal Murray make an All-Star team this season? If his stats are similar, if not better, then he definitely has the capability to make an All-Star team. He definitely will get more fan voting, considering the love and praise he accumulated after this year’s playoffs.
The guard position in the Western Conference is loaded, though, and it won’t be easy playing better than a lot of the competition. Steph Curry, Luka Dončić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, Devin Booker, and Kyrie Irving are just a handful of names that could be an All-Star as a guard this season. The competition is tight, so Murray would have to step up his game if he wanted to be better than the rest.
As for Jokić, he has never had an All-Star teammate in his career. No one on the Nuggets outside of Jokić has made the All-Star team ever since Carmelo Anthony. Murray definitely has the chance to be the latest player to make the All-Star team from the Denver Nuggets besides Jokić.
Murray’s only 26 years old, and about to enter his prime. He may not be a Hall of Famer once his career is all said and done, but considering what Murray has done for the Nuggets, he could definitely get his jersey retired eventually.
Next. Hall-of-Famer makes bold claim about Jokic. dark
Whether Jamal Murray makes the All-Star team for the Denver Nuggets this season or not, there is reason to believe he’ll still be one of the best guards in the whole NBA.