One of the oldest basketball memes can be put to rest. Nikola Jokic finally has an All-Star teammate. Jamal Murray finally reached the career honor in his ninth season. The Denver Nuggets will have two All-Star representatives for the first time in their current iteration.
It was a no-brainer, for the most part. Murray has enjoyed a career season. He’s averaged 25.5 points on 48.7% shooting, 7.5 assists and 4.4 rebounds. He’s helped the Nuggets look every bit of a title contender and thrived in Jokic’s month-long absence from a hyperextended knee.
Since Murray entered the NBA in 2016, he’s been one of the more dynamic scoring guards in the league. He’s been Jokic’s Robin for the last half-dozen seasons. He helped Denver win an NBA championship in 2023 as a 26-point scorer.
That’s why Murray’s zero NBA All-Star nods were one of the more puzzling factoids in the league. Considering his resume, you’d think he’d made the weekend festivities at least once by now. Nope. Perhaps there’s no worse victim in this era of basketball from the unreal pool of talent out West.
Now, Murray can finally cross it off his bucket list. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is happy to see him be part of the extravaganza that honors the game’s best players — and LeBron James.
“Well deserving. He’s playing amazing this year, first and foremost. Really good player. He’s earned it for sure,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Might be a little late, to be honest with you. Just take what they give you. He deserves this.”
As most know, Gilgeous-Alexander and Murray have played for Team Canada over the last handful of years. They were teammates in the 2024 Olympics. It’s an new era in the NBA with Canadian players. Which speaks to the larger trend that international players have overtaken most folks’ top player rankings. Just look at the last handful of MVP winners.
“For Canada basketball, it’s cool. Growing up, never in a million years. Steve Nash was the only one. He was an anomaly,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It didn’t make sense. He was short and not athletic. It was flukey and shows how good Steve was. It’s amazing. It shows the growth of the game.”
Gilgeous-Alexander will have Chet Holmgren join him for the All-Star Game. It’s the second consecutive year the Thunder have had two representatives. Last year, it was Jalen Williams. OKC has sat atop the NBA standings this entire season and is viewed as the title favorite.
Murray could help dethrone the Thunder. The Nuggets are viewed as OKC’s biggest threat to going back-to-back. In a Sunday Night primetime matchup, he didn’t really do much with just 12 points on 4-of-16 shooting and 12 assists. The Thunder enjoyed a 121-111 win over Denver.
“Hats off to those guys like Steve, Andrew Wiggins, Cory Joseph, Tristan Thompson. The guys that were in the NBA that paved the way for guys like myself and Jamal,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They laid the foundation and we’ve been able to run with it. It’s our job to carry it on and think we’ve been able to do a pretty good job.”
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander happy to see Jamal Murray named NBA All-Star
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