By now, surely you’ve heard all the talk about how Jamal Murray has never made an All-Star team before. How Nikola Jokic has never had an All-Star teammate. How Murray is the best player never to make an All-Star Game. Frankly, it’s gotten a bit tiresome at this point, but it seems like that narrative is about to be put to bed once and for all.
With fan voting officially closing Wednesday night, All-Star starters announced on Monday, and reserves being named on February 1st, we’re drastically approaching the All-Star break, and Murray is poised to finally participate in the festivities.
Tim Bontemps, of ESPN, picked his full All-Star teams for the East and West on Wednesday, and he listed Murray as a “reserve lock”. Jamal is putting up career-high numbers across the board, and his 25.6 points and 7.5 assists per game on 44.8% three-point shooting stack up with just about anyone in the league.
Factor in Denver’s 27-13 record, which is tied for second place in the Western Conference, the fact that Jamal has played in 36 of the team’s 40 games, and how much he has been carrying the team with injuries to Nikola Jokic and multiple other starters, and Murray’s case is extremely compelling.
Bontemps lists Jokic as All-Star starter
Even with the recent games missed, Bontemps had Nikola Jokic as a lock to be in the West’s starting lineup alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, Victor Wembanyama, and Anthony Edwards. His reserve locks, along with Murray, included Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Alperen Sengun, and Chet Holmgren.
On the bubble for the Western Conference, Bontemps had Devin Booker, Deni Avdija, Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves, ultimately going with Deni and Book.
There was one other familiar name to Nuggets fans included in the article, as Bontemps had Michael Porter Jr. on the bubble for the Eastern Conference All-Star team. He didn’t end up going with MPJ, mostly due to him putting up inflated numbers for a team that’s shooting for the top of the draft lottery, but it’s still an impressive feat for Mike to be candidly included in the discussion.
The fan voting is only a part of the puzzle, as the media and players will also vote on the starting lineups, but the reserves will be picked entirely by coaches. Hopefully, they’ve taken notice of what Murray has done so far this season, and they remember it when it comes to time to fill out their ballots.