You don’t always hear those closest to greatness gush about it in the moment, but after Nikola Jokic got injured on Monday night, Jamal Murray was introspective and brutally honest about his fallen teammate. Murray was asked how the team will regroup without Jokic, and he responded by saying, “He’s not just a big part of what we do, he’s almost everything we do.”
NBA players are as prideful and competitive as any humans alive, and Murray is a star in his own right, a champion with a bona fide resume in the league. For him to be this upfront about his teammate and how important Jokic is to the team is impressive.
Obviously, it’s not like this is a hot take or anything. In fact, it’s pretty much accepted by everyone around the league. But if there was anyone who might push back, or who would have every right to speak up about their own critical role in the offense, it’s Jamal. Instead, he downplayed his own accomplishments and abilities, admitting that the Joker is the sun, moon, and stars for this Denver Nuggets team.
Great to see Murray show respect to Jokic
It’s a terrible situation with Jokic getting hurt, and when Murray was relaying these comments, it was in the immediate aftermath of the game, with Jokic’s injury status still unkonw. In fact, Murray even started his comments by saying, “First thing that went through my mind was I hope it’s not what I had.”
It’s nice to see the camaraderie between longtime teammates and co-stars. It’s easy to forget how much time they spend together and how, like it or not, they’ve become attached to each other and will be for the annals of history.
Murray is a great player, and he would have been great no matter which team he went to. Maybe if he got drafted by a worse team, he could have put up better stats and earned more accolades, individually. But maybe he wouldn’t have the playoff success, the NBA championship ring, and the acumen as a franchise icon and clutch postseason hero.
Murray’s legacy will forever be tied to Jokic now, and he knows it. He understands and acknowledges that it’s all about Jokic, and he does owe a lot of his success, especially on a team level, to the Joker.
But Murray has an impressive resume, himself, and is rightfully proud of his accomplishments. Playing the best basketball of his career, there’s no reason he can’t continue adding to his legacy and building on the outstanding career he has already had.