"We found something worth fighting for": Jamal Murray has his moment

Bent over at the waist, his hands on his knees, Jamal Murray was spent. Physically and emotionally, he was exhausted. Murray’s averaging more than 42 minutes per game across the Nuggets’ last three contests, but over the previous four days, as the NBA took a collective pause, the gravity of the situation weighed on him even more.

“Jamal, what are you thinking about right now?” TNT’s Jared Greenberg asked Murray just moments after he led the Nuggets to a breathtaking 119-107 win over the Utah Jazz to force a Game 7.

“I just want to win. And in life, you find things that hold value to you and things to fight for. And we found something worth fighting for, as the NBA, as a collective unit,” an emotional Murray said. “And I use these shoes a symbol to me to keep fighting, all around the world. So like I said, they give me a lot of power to keep fighting. We want to win. I show my emotion. It comes out.”

“Why has this been so personal to you?” Greenberg then asked, referencing the custom Adidas shoes Murray has worn for the last couple of games that feature portraits of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

“Because it’s not just in America,” Murray continued. “It happens everywhere. For us to come together, the NBA, and it doesn’t take one meeting. It takes a couple meetings. A few meetings. It takes phone calls. It takes persistence. It’s not going to take one night. And we’ve been trying to fight for 400 years. But these shoes give me life. Even though these people are gone, they give me life. They help me find strength to keep fighting this world, and that’s what I’m going to keep doing.”

“We found something we’re fighting for as the NBA, as a collective unit…and I use these shoes as a symbol to keep fighting all around the world.”

– Jamal Murray after Denver's Game 6 win. pic.twitter.com/rkwPn9QuHX

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) August 31, 2020

It was such a raw moment but one that was so honest, so true, and so powerful. The words came from a 23-year-old, who’s not only carrying the team on his back but who’s shouldering the responsibility of fighting against racial injustice alongside his peers.

Murray wasn’t just speaking for himself. He was speaking for the collective NBA who has been isolated inside a bubble, literally at the “The Happiest Place on Earth,” while unarmed Black Americans continue to get shot by police. You could hear the anger, the frustration, and the outrage in Doc Rivers’ voice last week. You could feel the sadness, the grief, and the anguish in Chris Webber’s too. If you haven’t listened to their words, I recommend it, because it’s precisely what Murray and many players are feeling right now and have felt for the last several weeks.

You knew Jacob Blake’s death was hitting Murray based on how the Nuggets’ point guard responded to George Floyd’s killing. During a media availability around two weeks after Floyd’s death, Murray turned the question-and-answer session into an open forum where he asked media members on the call about instances of racism that they’ve experienced.

Murray then shared two prior experiences with the police when he felt he was discriminated against due to the color of his skin. One instance occurred when Murray was pulled over while in the car for no reason with his father, Roger — in Canada, not even the United States — and another when police tried to perform an unnecessary search while he and Roger were walking home from basketball practice.

“That’s why I wear freedom on my back. Because it doesn’t really matter where you’re from,” Murray said Sunday. “Lives matter, and it’s tough to see what’s going on, even coming from Canada. It’s tough to see what’s going on. Because I’ve been a part of it.”

“My skin color should not determine whether I live or die. This is a human civil rights crisis that’s going on. And the amount to injustices that’s happening over and over so repeatably so, done in a way that’s inhumane. It’s really emotional.”

The two-day league-wide pause, Murray said, was necessary for players to formulate a plan of action that will hopefully bring about sustained, lasting change. Before the NBA restart, countless players and staffers had been on the front lines protesting and marching across the country in the name of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, and others. That right has been taken away from them while inside the bubble.

Last Friday, players, coaches, and team governors agreed to resume the playoffs with the understanding that the league and players will together enact three commitments.

1. To establish a social justice coalition made up of players, coaches, and governors that will focus on a broad range of issues, including increasing access to voting, promoting civic engagement, and advocating for meaningful police and criminal justice reforms.
2. For team governors to work with local election officials to convert every arena property that is owned and operated by the franchise into voting locations for the 2020 election.
3. To create and include advertising spots in each playoff game dedicated to promoting greater civic engagement in national and local elections and raising awareness around voter access and opportunity.

The pause was also needed to give players, coaches, and team staffers, who recently crossed the 50-day mark in Orlando without their families, significant others and friends, some mental relief, Murray said. Life for everyone inside the bubble is incredibly monotonous, consisting mainly going from breakfast back to a hotel room. From lunch, back to a hotel room. From a game back to a hotel room. Of course, it’s weighing on the players.

It’s been eye-opening to witness how subdued Nuggets players have been during their postgame media sessions even after thrilling wins. Jaylen Brown recently shared a chilling account of an elevator ride he shared with Mason Plumlee, where the Nuggets’ center was repeating positive affirmations to himself just to put him in the right headspace to attend a practice. For many, it seems like there’s an understandable numbness to basketball that has set in.

Murray’s emotional postgame interview was a reaction to all of that and more. It was a build-up of weeks and months of grieving, anger, and a desire to create change all channeled into one moment. And it made that moment, which came after arguably Murray’s best individual game of his career, even more significant.

“I play with a lot of heart. I play with a lot of passion,” Murray said when asked about the emotions he was feeling after Game 6. “When you fight for something it means a whole lot more. And we’ve been fighting this fight for a long time, and we’re tired of being tired. Like I said, I go out there and I fight for something. Win or lose I go out there and I fight for something. As the NBA, we’re collectively going to keep fighting. The players are doing everything they can, trying to get involved any way they can. And we’re glad the NBA is helping out and allowing us to use this as a platform. I want to thank Adam Silver for giving us the chance to do this.

“But it’s an emotional thing because it’s not just me. There’s so many other guys, as you can tell. It’s lives. You know, it’s your life. It’s your life. Imagine losing your life. I don’t know what else I can say. Imagine a father losing their life while they have kids. Imagine a father or some brother getting shot seven times in front of their kids. Imagine that. The least I can do is go out there and fight for something, So that’s what I’m trying to do.”

His remarks rightfully overshadowed another heart-stopping performance where Murray willed the Nuggets to another playoff win. Murray finished with 50 points in Game 6, his second 50-point game of the series, five rebounds, and six assists in a game-high 43 minutes. Murray shot a glistening 17 of 24 from the field and 9 of 12 from three-point range, becoming the first player to drop 50-plus points on better than 70% shooting in a playoff game since Charles Barkley in 1994. Like he’s done throughout most of the series, Murray saved his best for last, pouring in 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Murray’s now averaging 34 points per game in the series and more than 19 points per fourth quarter across Games 4, 5, and 6. He’s one of just four players ever (Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson, and Donovan Mitchell) to score 50-plus points twice in a playoff series. Mitchell, who’s also been brilliant this series, had 50-plus in Games 1 and 4.

His stat lines from the last three games don’t look real. Murray didn’t even turn the ball over during Games 4 and 5 while logging a combined 84 minutes, and he’s the first player to score 40-plus points in three-straight playoff games since Iverson in 2001.

Game 4: 50 points (58 FG%, 60 3P%), 11 rebounds, 7 assists

Game 5: 42 points (65 FG%, 50% 3P%), 8 rebounds, 8 assists

Game 6: 50 points (71 FG%, 75 3P%), 5 rebounds, 6 assists

“I’ve been blessed to have been around some great players. LeBron, [Chris Paul], Steph Curry, Klay Thompson,” Michael Malone said. “But I’ve never seen a guy go 50, 42 and 50, and two of those games being elimination games. Talk about a young man putting a team on his back.”

It was the game of a lifetime that preceded a career-defining and maybe life-altering moment for Murray. He’s now one of the faces of the NBA’s fight against racial injustice, a responsibility and burden that Murray welcomes, which at 23-years-old is astounding on its own.

Murray’s battling to be recognized as one of the NBA’s best young players. At the same time, he’s fighting for so much more.

“I play with a will to win. People want me to be consistent. And I’m not going to lie, it’s not easy,” Murray said. “That’s why the greats are so good because they don’t do it just one night. They do it every night. They play hard every night. They bring that will to win every single night, and they will their team to play harder. And that’s what we’re trying to do as a league. … When you do the necessary things for change, step by step, inch by inch, you’ll see it. We know it’s not going to happen overnight but we’ve got to start somewhere. And we’ve got to do more than we’ve been doing.”