As time passes following the Nuggets’ disappoinitnig playoff collapse against the Timberwolves and the team starts to prepare for the coming season, the prevailing thought seems to be that they went too hard in the regular season and the team got banged up and ran out of gas.
This is partly to blame for the frustrating performance against Minnesota, but also probably a fair bit of excuse-making. The team did look tired, but the bigger issue may have been actual health, specifically, Jamal Murray's health.
We’ve seen this story for years; Jokic is a rock, but when Murray is at his best, the Nuggets are unbeatable. Unfortunately, in recent years Murray’s health has been hard to predict and ultimately, unreliable.
This seems relevant as ever coming off a very poor showing in the Olympics by Jamal, with the coach of Team Canada saying he was on a minutes restriction and the Nuggets’ president saying he knows Jamal wasn’t 100% in the playoffs or Olympics.
Considering that, it begs the question of why was Murray even playing in the Olympics. But of course, he wanted to represent his country and hopefully, he’s no worse for the wear. But it wasn’t pretty. And the Nuggets are going to need Murray back at full strength this season more than ever.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the major injuries that have haunted Murray throughout his career.
2016-2019: Murray a relative iron man for Denver
Murray was fully healthy for his one college season at Kentucky and came into the pros with similar luck. He was a picture of health his first three seasons in the league, only missing a handful of games in 2019 with a sprained ankle. Otherwise, he was rock solid and reliable for the Nuggets.
2019-2022: Injuries start to pop up in a devastating way
In early 2020, Murray suffered a bad ankle sprain that caused him to miss 10 straight games for the first time in his career. But he came back stronger than ever and had an amazing playoff run in the bubble, helping take the Nuggets to the Western Conference Finals.
Then in 2021 came the worst blow yet as Murray tore his ACL just weeks ahead of the NBA playoffs. Murray missed the playoffs and then the entire 2021-22 season while recovering from the brutal injury.
2022-2023: It all comes together and the Nuggets win a title
Murray eased his way back from the torn ACL but made it all the way through the regular season and then ramped it up in the 2023 playoffs, creating a serene two-man game with Jokic that Denver rode to a title. All was right in Nugget land.
2023-2024: Late-season injuries plague Murray and the Nuggets
Last season got off to a promising start as Murray was mostly healthy and the Nuggets looked like a strong bet to defend their title. But things started to break down towards the end of the season as Murray missed a long stretch of games before the playoffs with an ankle injury.
Murray battled back for the playoffs but never quite looked right, then suffered a calf strain in the first round which made matters even worse. Murray had some nice moments and didn’t miss a playoff game, but was clearly not himself.
The Olympics looked like a continuation of the playoffs with Murray struggling even more and looking a step slow. Hopefully, by now he’s finally had some time to heal up and will come into training camp at 100% and ready to have his best NBA season; the Nuggets are going to need it to win another championship.