Jamal Murray is a Canadian professional basketball player who currently (2022) plays as a point guard in the NBA Denver Nuggets club and the Canadian national team. He was born on February 23, 1997 in the city of Kitchener, not far from Toronto. Before being selected by Denver as the seventh pick in the 2016 NBA draft, Murray played for the Kentucky Wildcats, the basketball team of the University of Kentucky. In the same year, he was named the player of the month of the Western Division twice in a row.
He was named the most valuable player of the Rising Stars Challenge tournament in 2017 and was included in the second-best five debutants in the NBA. Murray won his first medal in the Canadian national team jersey in 2013. With the U-16 team, he won a bronze medal at the American Championship in Uruguay. Two years later, he won silver with the seniors at the Pan American Games in Toronto.
Jamal Murray’s Quick Facts
| Real Name | Jamal Murray |
| Nick Name | None |
| Date of Birth | February 23, 1997 |
| Birth Place | Kitchener, Ontario, Canada |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Weight | 215 lb (98 kg) |
| Age | 25 |
| Zodiac | Pisces |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Hometown | Kitchener, Ontario, Canada |
| School | Grand River Collegiate Institute, Orangeville Prep club |
| College | University of Kentucky |
| Profession | Basketball player |
| Marital Status | Unmarried |
| Net-Worth | $4 million |
Jamal Murray’s Personal life and Family
Jamal Murray was born in 1977 in Ontario. He grew up in the city of Kitchener, about a hundred kilometers from Toronto. His mother’s name is Sylvia (Sylvia Murray), and his father is Roger (Roger Murray). Roger was born in Jamaica and moved to Canada when he was nine years old. In his youth, he drove auto races and played basketball. Silvia and Roger, in addition to Jamal, also have a younger son, Lamar (Lamar Murray).
Murray started playing basketball at the age of three, and at the age of six, he could easily face boys four years older on the court. Until the age of 13, he was regularly “measuring strength” on the floor with high school and university students. In addition to basketball, Jamal also has kung fu skills, and he relaxes by meditating.
At university, he met volleyball player Harper Hempel. Murray transferred from Kentucky to Denver after one season, but they stayed in touch. In addition to volleyball, Harper is also involved in photography. He has a small but successful company operating in Northern Kentucky.
Jamal Murray’s Career and Performance
After finishing elementary school, Murray entered the Grand River High School (“Grand River Collegiate Institute”), and then transferred to the Orangeville Prep club, where his father worked as an assistant coach. Head coach Thon Marker built a team that won many high school competitions across America. At the “Nike Hoop” tournament (“Nike Hoop Summit”) in 2015, Jamal recorded a career record of 30 points in one match and was named the most valuable player of the competition.
That same year, he was also named Most Valuable Player in the All-Canadian High School Competition. In the middle of 2015, he entered the University of Kentucky and became a member of the Kentucky Wildcats. Already after his first year, he was included among the 25 best players in the American College League and nominated for several prestigious awards. He played 36 games where he averaged 20 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists, with a 40.8 percent three-point shooting percentage.
He was named the third-best player by the newspaper “Associated Press”, included in the top five debutants, and went down in the history of the club as the only debutant who managed to score more than 20 points per game. In April 2016, he announced that he would participate in the NBA draft.
Two months later, he was selected by the Denver Nuggets as the seventh pick. On August 9, 2016, they signed a one-year contract, and on November 13, at a meeting with Portland (Portland Trail Blazers), Murray scored 19 points. He already exceeded that number on November 22 when he helped his team beat the Chicago Bulls with 22 baskets. He was named the player of the month for October and November in the Western Conference.
In February 2017, he was named the Most Valuable Player of the Rising Stars tournament, after recording 36 points and 11 assists, and helping the World team defeat the United States of America (USA). He achieved a new career record of 30 points on April 7, 2017, against the New Orleans Pelicans. He was included in the second-best five rookies in the NBA. A successful start to the 2017/18 season followed. On November 11, Murray scored 32 points to help Denver beat the Orlando Magic. Six days later, he scored 31 points against the Pelicans, and Denver won 146:114.
He became the hero of the game when he scored a three-pointer in the last seconds of the match against Portland on January 22, 2018. That night, Jamal scored 38 points. Seven days later, with 33 baskets, he helped the Nuggets defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder. Probably the best match in his career so far was played by the young Canadian on November 5, 2018, when Denver defeated the Boston Celtics at home. Murray set a new personal best of 48 points.
On December 18, they beat the Dallas Mavericks, and in addition to 22 baskets, he recorded a record 15 assists. In the same month, during the duel with the Phoenix Suns, he scored 46 points, including nine three-pointers. The following year also started well for the young guard, so in the fourth quarter of the meeting with Sacramento (Sacramento Kings) he scored 17 points. That evening, Denver recorded a 117:113 victory over the Kings, and Murray contributed to that with 36 points. He played another great match on January 17 when the Nuggets welcomed the Bulls at home.
The Canadian scored 25 points, including 22 in the third quarter. An excellent series was stopped by a left ankle injury, which forced Jamal to miss the next six matches. He returned to the court on February 6th and scored 19 points in the Brooklyn Nets net. Neither that nor 11 successful passes prevented his team from losing to the Nets. However, they managed to make it to the playoffs.
In the third meeting of the second round of the playoffs against the Trail Blazers, Jamal scored 34 points, breaking his own record in the playoffs. However, Denver suffered a loss against Portland. In the fourth game, he scored 34 points again and brought his team victory. After an uncertain ending, the Portland team made it to the semi-finals of the NBA League.
Murray set a career record in scoring on November 5, 2018, when he scored 48 points for the Celtics and helped his team win 115:107. Already on December 18, he scored 22 points and recorded 15 assists in his team’s victory over the Mavericks. With 46 points, i.e. on December 29, Murray helped Denver achieve a record nine three-pointers. In the fourth quarter of the match against the Sacramento Kings on January 3, 2019, he scored as many as 17 out of a total of 36 points.
Denver met the Chicago Bulls on January 17th, and Murray scored 22 of his 25 points in the third quarter to help his team beat their opponents 135-105. He had to miss six games due to a sprained left ankle. He returned to the court on February 6, 2019, when his 19 points and 11 assists were not enough for Denver to defeat the Brooklyn Nets. During the third match of the playoffs against the Trail Blazers, Murray managed to score 34 points, and achieve a personal record in the number of points during the playoffs. In the fourth meeting, he scored 34 points again and helped his team record a 116:112 victory.
Before the start of the 2019/2020 season, Jamal signed a new five-year contract worth $170 million with the Denver Nuggets. He recorded a record 39 points, including seven three-pointers, and eight assists on November 17, when his team beat Memphis 131:114. On December 23, 2019, Denver met Phoenix. In addition to scoring 28 points, Murray blocked an opposing player from scoring to give his team a 113-111 away win. He confirmed the record of 39 scored points on January 2, 2020, in the Nuggets’ 128:114 loss to the Washington Wizards. More bad luck followed. Murray had to miss ten games due to a sprained ankle. However, he recovered well and one of the best phases of his career followed.
He averaged 31.3 points per game, with very high accuracy from the three-point line. Only in the match against Sans on February 8, 2020, he scored as many as six three-pointers. In the match with the Hornets, he saved Denver’s face again. In addition to scoring 18 points and six assists, he managed to prevent defeat, and the referee called the end when the scoreboard showed 114:112 in favor of his team.
On August 17, the Nuggets met with Utah for the first time in the 2020 playoffs, and MAREY scored 36 points and recorded nine assists. He scored 20 points in the fourth quarter alone, leading his team to a 135:125 victory in overtime. Six days later, he recorded a record 50 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists, which was not enough to win, so Utah celebrated the result 129:127. Murray made history with this statistic.
Along with Donovan Mitchell (Donovan Mitchell) who scored 51 points, Murray became one of the two players who managed to score over 50 points in one game in the history of the NBA playoffs. Game 5 was to be or not to be for Denver. However, thanks to Murray who scored 42 points, eight rebounds, and the same number of assists, they managed to win 117:107 and win the sixth game.
The sixth meeting ended with Denver winning 119:107. After this feat, Murray spoke about racial injustice and supported the “Black lives matter” movement with words and gestures. The next opponents were the Los Angeles Clippers. Murray especially stood out in the seventh and decisive match when he scored 40 points, including six three-pointers, which led his team to a 105:89 victory and placed them for the first time since 2009 in the Western Conference finals.
With this victory, the Nuggets became the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3:1 deficit in one postseason. However, the final was a bit disappointing for their fans. Namely, they were defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers as many as five times. In the match they won, Murray recorded 28 points, eight rebounds and 12 assists. The Lakers ended up winning the 2020 NBA ring.
On February 19, 2021, Murray helped Denver beat Cleveland 120:103 with a record 50 points. During the match, he became the first player in NBA history to score 50 points without making free throws, and only the second player to score 50 points with more than 80 percent from the field and from the three-point line.
During the match against the Golden State Warriors on April 12, 2021, Murray injured his left knee. The following day, the club announced that the recovery would last indefinitely. Murray underwent knee surgery on April 21, and the Nuggets said it is unknown when he will be able to return to the court.
In the 2021/2022 season, Murray averaged 21.2 points, 4.8 assists and 1.3 steals. He also had a high percentage of accuracy from the three-point line.
Representative Career
The jersey of the Canadian national team was borrowed by Jamal Murray in 2013 before the start of the American Championship for players younger than 16 years old. In that tournament, he averaged 17 points, six rebounds and 2.4 steals, and helped his team win the bronze medal. Just two years later, Murray was called up to the senior team.
He performed with the national team at the Pan American Games in Toronto. Although he was one of the youngest players in the team, Jamal recorded 16 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, with a field goal percentage of 45.9 percent. The Canadians won the silver medal at home.
Some Titles and Achievements
- 2013 Bronze medal from the US U16 Championship
- 2015 Silver medal from the Pan American Games
- 2016 named NBA West Division Player of the Month for October and November 2017 named Most Valuable Player of the Rising Stars Tournament 2017 included in the second-best five NBA debutants
Jamal Murray’s Contract
Jamal Murray signed a 5-year / $158.2 million contract with the Denver Nuggets, including $158.2 million guaranteed, and an annual average salary of $31.6 million. In 2022-23, Murray is going to earn a salary of $31.6 million.
Jamal Murray’s Social Media
Conclusion
So, friends, this was the whole career details and life story of Jamal Murray who made his mark in the NBA world with his hard work and dedication. If you have any questions related to this article, then definitely tell me by writing in the comment below, and what’s the best thing you like about Jamal Murray. If liked this article, don’t forget to share it on your social media.