When the NBA All-Star game tips off on Sunday, Jamal Murray won’t be there — again.
The 26-year-old Denver Nuggets star is eight seasons into his career, with a résumé that would inspire envy from the vast majority of players who have ever suited up in the Association. Yet, Murray has never been selected for the annual exhibition that honors the best of the best in basketball. But this years-long debate about whether he belongs among the game’s elite isn’t as simple as calling him a “snub.”
As Murray is well aware, his exclusion has been the result of all sorts of circumstances: injuries (chief among them the ACL tear that cost him the 2021 postseason and the entire 2021-22 campaign), slow starts to numerous seasons, and the harsh reality that it’s really hard to make the final cut when there are only 12 spots available in each conference. Still, with his latest candidacy seemingly cut short by a hamstring injury that cost him 13 games in November and early December, there’s a strong argument to be made that he’s already the best player of all time who never made an All-Star team.
Who on this list would go above him? Cedric Maxwell, Michael Cooper, Lamar Odom, Jamal Crawford, C.J. McCollum, Drazen Petrović, Mike Bibby, Richard Jefferson, Arvydas Sabonis, Rod Strickland, Al Jefferson, Jason Terry, Jalen Rose, Eddie Johnson, Toni Kukoć, Ron Harper, Jason Richardson, Monta Ellis, Lou Williams, Rudy Gay, Sam Perkins, Damon Stoudamire, Byron Scott, Andre Miller, Josh Smith, Kevin Martin, Eric Gordon … to name a few.
When Murray and I discussed this topic a year ago, he didn’t hesitate to share his candid view of it all.
“I know that I’m better than some of the All-Stars that are in there, yeah,” he said back then. “For sure. No question.”
But when we revisited the unpleasant topic again last week, there was a different energy that came with Murray’s response. The subtle edge was gone. He was more at ease with this unwelcome part of the conversation that surrounds him.
“Obviously, I would love to be an All-Star,” he told The Athletic in an expansive interview last Friday in Sacramento. “I’d love to get that kind of recognition. But I think when you win in the playoffs, you win on the biggest stages you play and show yourself on the biggest stages and you prove yourself against those so-called All-Stars, (then it’s) whatever…”
The desire for league-wide validation, in other words, was fulfilled when he etched his name in the history books last June.
Before the Nuggets’ title run, there had only been four players in the game’s history of the game who averaged at least 26 points, seven assists and five rebounds in a Finals run (according to Stathead.com). Michael Jordan did it once (1991), as did Larry Bird (1987) and Clyde Drexler (1992). LeBron James, amazingly, has done it five times.
Then along came Murray and his beloved Nuggets big man, two-time MVP Nikola Jokić, who both hit those marks while carrying the Nuggets to their first title in the franchise’s history that dates back to 1967. And Murray, who averaged 26.1 points, 7.1 assists and 5.7 rebounds during their 20-game journey, decided once and for all that the rewards earned in the postseason would become his forever focus.
“I mean I’m doing it,” Murray said with a shrug. “I’m an All-Star when you need the All-Star to show up — in the playoffs. You want the best to step up (then), right? And I think I do a good job of that. So I kind of backed myself up in that way. That’s it. That’s what it is. So it’s just more fuel to the fire.
“But (not being selected an All-Star) doesn’t hurt me like that, psychologically. I haven’t made it for so long, and I’m a champion. And I’m on the best team in the world playing with the best player in the world (in Jokić).”
In fairness to this season’s West All-Star guards who were voted in by coaches as reserves — Devin Booker (28.0 points, 7.1 assists, 4.7 rebounds), Steph Curry (28 points, 4.9 assists, 4.4 rebounds), and Anthony Edwards (26.1 points, 5.2 assists, 5.2 rebounds) — Murray’s numbers to this point don’t compare. He’s averaging 20.5 points, 6.5 assists and 3.9 rebounds while playing in 40 of 54 games. But the more important part, and the thing that he’ll prioritize above all else from here until the end of this title defense, is the continued evolution and elevation of the Nuggets.
Even after losing Bruce Brown and Jeff Green in free agency in the summer, Denver finds itself with a 36-18 record that is just one game behind where they were at this point last season. After suffering bad losses to the Kings (135-106 on Friday) and Bucks (112-95 on Monday) in their last two games, with Murray struggling against Sacramento and sitting after the first half against Milwaukee because of shin splints, they’re tied for third in the West with the Clippers (two games behind Minnesota for the top spot and one behind second-place Oklahoma City). League-wide, they’re tied with the Clippers and Cleveland for the NBA’s fourth-best record (Boston, at 42-12, is first).
Here’s a glance at how the Nuggets’ overall metrics compare from this season to last:
Net rating
2023-24: Plus-3.5 (ninth)
2022-23: Plus-3.3 (sixth)
Offensive rating
2023-24: 117.5 points scored per 100 possessions (12th)
2022-23: 116.8 (fifth)
Defensive rating
2023-24: 114 points allowed per 100 possessions (11th)
2022-23: 113.5 (15th)
The numbers make it clear that they’ve been far from dominant, but the Nuggets are still as much of a threat to win the whole thing now as they were the last time around. Maybe even more when the intangible factors such as chemistry and championship experience are taken into account.
As Murray discussed at length, their level of belief is soaring well past the 5,280-foot mile marker for which Denver is famous. And his latest absence at All-Star Weekend will do nothing to change that much.
(Editor’s note: The interview below has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.)
So I remember talking with Giannis (Antetokounmpo) in this same building a couple of years ago about how your mentality changes when you win your first title. So what has that been like for you? You’ve already put your name in the history books, to an extent, but you want to keep doing more.
I think it brings more responsibility. It brings more awareness, more urgency (in games), when you’re the champs. (Although) even when we weren’t the champs, you knew (what it meant). When we went against the Warriors, or against Milwaukee, you knew you had to bring it.
But now that we won, now it’s like, “Man, every team is shooting friggin’ lights out against us.” They’re all playing hard as hell. So I just feel like we’ve gotta be more aware that we’re being hunted. We have a little target on our back. And I think once we go out with the right type of mindset, as a hunter, it’s having that mindset instead of just being prepared to take the punches that other teams give. I think that’s where the mentality changes. So tonight (against the Kings) was a rough one, obviously, but we’re in a good spot.
And truth be told, Murray blamed the “bubble guts” for that one.
As he leaned against a wall inside the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Friday night discussing the game in which his Nuggets looked like a shell of themselves, that was Murray’s blunt — and unpleasant — diagnosis of what had gone wrong. Something he ate pregame didn’t sit right with his stomach, he explained, and next thing you know he was rushing off to the men’s room multiple times during the game rather than figuring out how to slow those Kings runs that ultimately did them in. He finished with just 12 points, three assists, one rebound and six turnovers in 26 minutes.
Matters only got worse three nights later in Milwaukee, where he scored just three points in 18 minutes before leaving with the “bilateral tibia inflammation” that’s otherwise known as shin splints. Murray is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s rematch against the Kings in Denver.
“We’ve been playing well all season, considering injuries and everything. We just know that teams are trying to see how they stack up against us for the playoffs, like Sacramento, like OKC, even New Orleans. Teams are just bringing it each and every game. So like I said, we’ve got to raise our level of intensity and awareness.
How does it change you when you know what it feels like to win the whole thing? In my head, I can see that great moment of you pushing Joker in the pool and all the joy that went on that night. Does it have any impact on your appetite to do it again, or your competitive psyche?
I would say yeah, for sure. Naturally. I’d say you kind of get a little more relaxed. You win. You feel on top of the world. You’re trying to enjoy the rewards of your work, but at the same time teams are coming at you that much harder. The criticism is that much more. So yeah, I think it does make you a little bit more lax, but we’re doing a good job of weathering storms, bouncing back. I think we’re doing a good job of all that, even if we do have (backslides) and all that. We know how to refocus, retool and get back to our base. Get back to what we do.
Was it life-changing in terms of celebrity, or the off-court life?
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, yeah. The fan base obviously increases. It’s just a little bit more off court deals and all that stuff. A little bit more brand opportunities. Stuff like that.
We interrupt this Murray programming to hear from his running mate — aka, The Joker — on this particular topic. Jokić, who addressed the matter during our brief locker room chat after the Murray interview, was both understated and humorous on the matter. Perfectly on brand, one might say.
After winning Finals MVP honors for the win over Miami and sticking around for the Denver parade, Jokić headed straight to his homeland of Serbia and his No. 1 sports passion — that being horseracing. Eight months later, with the 28-year-old voted in as an All-Star for the sixth time, he is now widely regarded as the MVP frontrunner (he’s averaging 26.3 points, 12.2 rebounds, nine assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.9 blocks while playing in 52 of 54 games). And true to form, he still talks about the game as if he’s simply punching the clock every day — while winning Employee of the Month honors nearly every time out.
“Not much, to be honest — not in my opinion,” Jokić said when I asked if the title had been life changing. “I think it’s an achievement in your job, basically something like that. You’re going to be really proud of it, and you’re going to be really proud at the end of your career and it’s kind of (your) legacy. I think the team, as a group, who won it last year, we’re going to be always remembered as champions, so it’s just a nice — a really nice — legacy and history that we can all remember all the time.”
Was the memory of the title enough to inspire him to do something in his home to honor the feat — hang a picture of the celebration, perhaps, or maybe even display the Finals MVP trophy somewhere prominent for friends and family alike to see?
“No, I have the ring that we received, but that’s it,” he said. “It’s in a safe (laughs). I think (that) was a smart decision. It’s crazy — people out there.”
Now back to the Murray perspective of this historic Nuggets experience…
What’s your favorite part, and your least favorite part, of being a champion?
I mean, you play to win, right. So for me, and my competitive spirit, just being on top of the list of winning. And then the worst part about being a champ is that it’s tough man — but it makes you better. Whatever comes with it, whatever negativity that you think is happening, it’s all making you better and all making you stronger and a better champion. So just trying to use all the negativity, whatever it is, and having to bring it every night, having to have a level of focus every night, I think that’s just making all of us better. Having to improve relationships, me and ‘Jok’ having to improve our counters (offensively). I think that’s just making us better, even though it’s tough. (Sometimes) you just want to just enjoy a game where you can just play without both of us getting blitzed every possession. It’s like “Man, we’re gonna see some things so we’ve got to be ready, even though it’s a Tuesday in (the middle of the regular season).”
So All-Stars is one thing, but you have a lot of money on the line with All-NBA and the supermax (extension) that you’re eligible for this summer. Does your mind go there at all this season?
When Murray decided to bypass an extension last summer, it made perfect business sense. Rather than sign the three-year, $144 million deal that was offered to him then, he could attempt to land a five-year supermax deal worth up to $314.9 million in the following offseason (per The Athletic’s salary cap guru, Danny Leroux). That deal, however, is only eligible if he is selected All-NBA for the first time (or if he wins MVP or Defensive Player of the Year). That stipulation allows teams to use 35 percent of the salary cap to sign a supermax player for five years, vs. the 30 percent (and four years) that is allowed if the player doesn’t meet any of those marks. If Murray doesn’t make All-NBA, the extension will be limited to four years and $207.6 million. His current contract has one season remaining (worth approximately $36 million).
I’m playing to win the game, though. I mean, we make enough money. I barely even check my bank account. I don’t spend like that. So, obviously, yeah, it’s amazing. You’d probably get — I don’t know how much more you get or whatever. But I’m not gonna go out of my way to try to sacrifice this team, and winning a championship, putting ourselves in the first place position, to do that. So if I get it, I get it. In my mind, I’ve gotta make my open frickin’ shots. That’s my opportunity right there. So I don’t put it on anything else.
Where’s your head at in terms of how far you’ve come since the ACL (injury on April 13, 2021)? You fought for so long to get back, and then I’m watching you against the Lakers (on Feb. 8), and you take that hit that wipes out your legs late. Does your mind still go right back to what you’ve been through?
I’m good man. I don’t think I think about it like that anymore, which is amazing, because I thought about it for so long. Any little twinge, any little nick, or bruise, it’s like, “Let me make sure.” But no, I’m OK, man. I just want to be healthy so I can go when my team needs me. That’s all.
(Photo of Jamal Murray: Bart Young / NBAE via Getty Images)
