Fresh out of a shutout season following rupturing a knee ligament in April 2021, Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray is yet to return to his top form but has come a long way since his big injury. Path that began with many doubts and questions.
April 12, 2021. Jamal Murray and the Nuggets are away to Golden State. There is a minute left to play, Murray enters the Warriors racket, and then crashes. Denver No. 27’s knee gives out and Jamal writhes in pain. Verdict: rupture of a cruciate ligament, synonymous with an operation and then a rehabilitation of several months to come.
Jamal Murray was helped off the court following an apparent knee injury with 50 seconds left once morest the Warriors. pic.twitter.com/sz7akzOiq4
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 13, 2021
Of course, Jamal Murray will never forget that moment. But he hasn’t forgotten anything that may have crossed his mind either.
“Are you going to transfer me?” Jamal notably asked his coach Michael Malone following the match once morest Golden State, according to The Athletic. “I had so many doubts in my head: will I still be the same? Am I worth it? Being transferred was one of the things I was thinking regarding.”
These are the kinds of questions that an NBA player can ask himself when he has just been the victim of a major injury. A player who remained on an exceptional Playoffs campaign in the Mickey bubble a few months earlier, and who was then in the very first year of his new contract at 158 million dollars.
“That’s what he imagined: ‘Maybe I’m good for scrapping, maybe they don’t want me anymore’. Of course, I told him right away, ‘We love you, I love you. You will not be transferred. You will come back a better player, I have no doubt regarding that.
– Coach Michael Malone on Jamal Murray.
Today, December 10, 2022, Jamal Murray is still in Denver. He’s not back to his best yet, he’s still going through ups and downs, but there are encouraging signs that Jamal is on the right track.
There were those two straight games once morest Houston in late November where he crashed 31 and 26 points, his two best offensive performances of the season. Even if it’s Houston, it’s still good for confidence, especially since they are part of a series of four consecutive games at least 20 units (a first since March 2021). And then there was also this monumental 3-point shot at the last second on the floor of the Blazers Thursday.
JAMAL MURRAY CLUTCH ???? pic.twitter.com/ytGFRChCwL
— NBA TV (@NBATV) December 9, 2022
It is through moments like this that confidence returns, that doubts dissipate, that a player recently hit by a major injury reaches a milestone. Because coming back from something as serious as a ruptured knee ligament, It’s as much a physical battle as it is a mental battle. And often, it is the latter that lasts the longest. Once the knee has been restored, you still have to manage to let go, free yourself, and put aside negative thoughts.
Is Jamal Murray regarding to become the Jamal Murray we know and who splashed the NBA with his talent in the Orlando bubble? It’s still too early to tell. What is certain, however, is that it is progressing in the right direction. And that is the most important thing at the time of these lines.
“I am coming back from far.”
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Source texte : The Athletic