Nuggets becoming bullies: star guard trains with UFC champion

Even during their championship run, the Nuggets were always more of a finesse team than a physical one. They’ve got plenty of size and Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon are bruisers, but they’re not really known as “tough guys”. 

Bruce Brown and Jeff Green had a little bit of that dog in them, so to speak. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope seemed to gain some of it recently in his career. But nobody is mistaking these guys with enforcers, certainly.

It’s not really a knock on the team; this isn’t hockey after all. It’s not like the Nuggets are a soft team or people are pushing them around by any means either. It’s just something interesting to note in a sport that is often much more physical and intense than people realize.

Recent championship teams have had their versions of physical tone-setters like Draymond Green, Jrue Holiday, P.J. Tucker, and others. Those guys weren’t the best players on their teams, but they brought a certain intangible that can’t be quantified.

The Nuggets may have gotten a little of it with Russell Westbrook - but it’s unclear how well he can actually play at this stage of his career. Hopefully, one of the younger guys like Peyton Watson or DaRon Holmes can step up and fill that void. But there is no clear-cut intimidator on the Nuggets beyond Jokic.

But perhaps Jokic’s co-star Jamal Murray can step up and become that bully. Murray already has the confident attitude and can strut his stuff with the best of them when things are going well. He’s prone to do some trash-talking and he’s shown his cool in clutch moments time and again.

Jamal Murray training with Alexander Volkanovski

Still, he’s never been a physically imposing player or someone known for dominating with size or strength. But maybe now that will change as Murray was recently seen training with his buddy and former UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski. 

This is great news for a variety of reasons. It’s cool that Murray is training in physical combat and literal fighting. Obviously, we hope that he will never be involved in an actual fight on an NBA court, but it’s good to know that he can hold his own physically and won’t back down from confrontation.

But beyond building a bully in Denver, this is great that Jamal is healthy enough for this kind of training. You’d have to think if he is getting in the Octagon, and engaging in mixed martial arts, that he is feeling good and ready to be 100% to start training camp.

Above all else this coming season, the biggest X-factor for the Nuggets is Murray’s health and ability to play like a star. This isn’t the be-all, end-all, or anything, but we don’t have much to go by until preseason starts, and seeing this has to give Nuggets fans plenty of reason for optimism.