Major NBA media outlet puts out preposterous criticism of Jamal Murray

With free agency and Summer League all but over, it’s that wonderful time of the season when sites put out lists and rankings for engagement. We already saw ESPN put out a list ranking the top 100 athletes since 2000 that saw Nuggets star Nikola Jokic crack the top 30.

Now we’ve got another list coming out from a major sports media publication, and yet another Nuggets player is prominently featured. Bleacher Report writer Dan Favale put out a list, Ranking the Most Overrated NBA Players Right Now.

Jamal Murray ranked 4th most overrated NBA player by Bleacher Report

The list started off with Jonathan Isaac of the Magic at #5, but right after that at #4 was Jamal Murray of the Nuggets. The premise of the argument was based on Murray’s production without Nikola Jokic. 

The article basically argued that Murray hasn’t been able to carry lineups when Jokic isn’t on the floor and hasn’t lived up to the role of a “second star” and the max contract that he’s likely about to receive.

Some of these critiques are fair and there’s a case to be made that Murray has underwhelmed at times, especially in the regular season. But still, this ranking is extremely harsh and a little ridiculous. 

Calling Murray overrated is a joke

Murray has been a true playoff riser, and despite never making an All-Star game, he has established himself in multiple playoff runs, including being the clear second-best player on a championship team two seasons ago. 

If anything, I would argue that Murray is properly rated or underrated. He’s not held to the standard of All-NBA or even All-Star, but I think any team would be happy to have Jamal for the playoffs. There aren’t many players who have proven it on the highest stage and Murray has done it multiple times. 

He has raised his game and shined brightest in the biggest moments and has established his track record up there with the game’s best. Injuries have been holding Murray back more than anything else; when healthy there has never been much doubt about his ability.

Even this season in what was objectively a “down playoffs” for Murray, he hit multiple game-winning shots in round one and scored over 30 points in the Nuggets’ game 7 loss to the T-Wolves. 

None of the 5 players on the list are overrated

The rest of the list included Miles Bridges of the Hornets at #3, Jalen Green of the Rockets at #2, and Jonathan Kuminga of the Warriors at #1. I wouldn’t consider any of these players overrated; in fact, I’d say they have all shown promise but have a lot to prove. The league seems to have these guys pretty fairly pegged.

But still, Murray is clearly the most egregious inclusion on this list, and calling him “overrated” is patently absurd. The whole list is a joke, but hopefully, if anything, Murray uses this as motivation and will come back healthy and ready to have the best season of his career. That way he can prove these apparent doubters completely wrong.