Life has been good to Jamal Murray, but it can always be better.
After becoming a father and NBA champion a few years ago, Murray is coming off his most decorated individual season. His best start was rewarded with his first All-Star selection; his body of work over the course of the season earned All-NBA third-team recognition.
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Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) controls the ball during game 1 of round 1 of the NBA Championships at Ball Arena on Saturday, April 19, 2026. The Nuggets won the game 116-105. (The Gazette, Jerilee Bennett)
“Just to do it all over again and more.” Murray said of this offseason’s motivation after the Nuggets practiced Wednesday at Ball Arena. “I thought I could’ve made All- (NBA) second team. I’m striving for that, and obviously want to keep the All-Star up, which means I’ve got to have a good start.”
The quest for more starts Thursday in Oklahoma City. Denver’s season-opener comes off the longest offseason Murray has experienced in a while. Last season’s six-game defeat against Minnesota was the first time the Nuggets lost a first-round series with Murray on the court. That created additional time for a physical and mental reset.
“We ended in May, so that was a start, a longer break,” Murray said.
“It’s really just mental. The physical stuff, I like to do MMA. I get my mind off basketball and train something else I love, but it’s just really having the time off to relax and decompress and not watch basketball, not touch it, not really think about it, so that when I come here and I’ve got to put the work in, it’s fresh. I want to do it. I want to stay longer. I want to get my shots up. I want to play one-on-one.”
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) walks off the court after the Nuggets lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 6 of a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series, Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)
Nuggets coach David Adelman has no complaints about the results of Murray’s offseason.
“He’s in a great head space. He was last year; he is this year,” Adelman said.
“With him, I just think it’s his body feels good. His mind is good. He’s got the cutest daughter. He’s doing good things right now, so he’s in a good place.”
The Thunder’s rotation of physical defenders has limited Murray’s efficiency in the past, and even though Lu Dort is no longer one of them, Oklahoma City has plenty of depth on the defensive perimeter. Establishing supplementary ball handlers has been a point of emphasis this preseason. The hope is that more time off the ball will help Murray stay fresher for longer and make the Nuggets more difficult to defend.
“It’s nice, for sure,” Murray said. “Obviously, I would like to go get the ball and call the play for myself, but it’s fun to take a deep breath and get into the set — whatever is happening — and just take a second to be a decoy or whatever it is.”
That’s not to be confused with the Nuggets wanting to limit how much the ball is in Murray’s hands.
“Jamal is a complete basketball player. He’s one of the best offensive players in the world. He just happens to play with the best offensive basketball player in the world. Jamal’s passing has always been great,” Adelman said.
“That two-man game, that means there’s two men. I think people forget that. It’s not one guy passing to himself. Jamal Murray has been really good at that for a decade plus.”
The 29-year-old has been doing it for long enough. Aaron Gordon gleefully wondered how much better Murray could really get at the team’s media day after posting career highs in points, rebounds and assists last season.
“As far as skill level goes, he’s a master. This is a master at his craft. He can’t shoot the ball any better. He can’t dribble the ball any better. Everything is maxed out,” Gordon said.
“This is one of, if not the best shot makers in the game today.”
Murray has seen a lot over the first 11 years of his career. There was a three-season build-up before he and Nikola Jokic got to the playoffs for the first time in 2019. A year later, Murray established himself as a premier playoff riser in the 2020 bubble and helped the Nuggets reach the conference finals for the first time in more than a decade. Then came the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee that halted his progress toward All-Stardom and forced him to miss the 2021 and 2022 postseasons before his luck in life changed for the better. He’s taking all the good and bad he’s experienced into his 10th season opener in a Nuggets uniform.
“I’m a lot more relaxed, I think, just a little bit more ready. I think I was a lot more excited and had a lot more energy to go out there and play as fast as possible without reading the game,” Murray said. “Now, I just try and settle in and understand what the team needs, time and score, the crowd … the tone, the moment, all that stuff, I have a better feel for everybody’s emotions and where my emotions are supposed to be as well.”
Injury report
Denver
Spencer Jones — questionable (bilateral hamstring injury management)
Julian Strawther — out (left knee sprain)
Oklahoma City
Otega Oweh — out (right Achilles tendon repair)
Thomas Sorber — out (right knee surgery)
Nikola Topic — out (low-back surgery)