Nuggets guard Jamal Murray was forced out of action before halftime in the team’s win over Miami, having sprained his right ankle in the second quarter, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Murray exited the game and didn’t return.
“I talked to him right at the half, and he thought he was gonna be able to try to maybe give it a go — see how it warmed up,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said. “And it just wasn’t responding the way he had hoped, so I think it was a smart decision not to have him out there. Just trying to be as careful as possible at this point of the season.”
According to Malone, Murray has yet to be ruled out for Saturday’s game against the Lakers, so it remains possible that the ankle sprain won’t cost him any additional games.
However, it’s worth noting that even if he returns to action on Saturday and plays every Nuggets game for the rest of the season, Murray will no longer be eligible for end-of-season awards.
The NBA’s new 65-game rule for award eligibility considers players to have reached 65 games if they play at least 20 minutes in 63 contests and at least 15 minutes in two more. The Nuggets guard has missed 16 games and – after logging just 14 minutes on Thursday – has played fewer than 15 minutes in two additional outings.
That means that even though he could still technically appear in up to 66 games this season, Murray will fall short of meeting the requirements for the 65-game minimum. The rule was written that way in the NBA’s latest Collective Bargaining Agreement to avoid a scenario in which a player just made cameo appearances in multiple games in order to reach 65.
For what it’s worth, a player who doesn’t meet the 65-game criteria is permitted to appeal his award eligibility in the event of “extraordinary circumstances.” Perhaps if Murray ended up missing out because he played in 14 minutes instead of 15 in one game, that would qualify, but since this is the first time this rule has been in effect, there are no precedents to compare it to. That case would also no longer hold weight if he misses more time as a result of his ankle injury, which remains a possibility.
“If there’s any hesitancy, then he won’t play in L.A.,” Malone said, per Durando. “If the ankle’s not right. … The question is never, ‘Can I go play?’ No, (it’s), ‘Can you play effectively?’ Because if you’re not playing effectively, you’re putting everybody else at a disadvantage. So we’ll see. And if he’s not able to play against the Lakers because of the ankle injury, then we’ll hopefully get him back for Phoenix (next Tuesday).”
Murray is averaging 20.5 points and a career-high 6.3 assists in 31.2 minutes per game for Denver through 44 appearances (all starts) this season. His 47.9% field goal percentage and 42.3% three-point percentage are also career bests.
The 27-year-old may have been a long shot for All-NBA recognition even if he were eligible, given the strong competition he’d face, but the fact that he’ll miss out is notable, since he would’ve met the performance criteria for a super-max extension if he had earned one of those 15 All-NBA spots. Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth said back in October that the team was “anticipating” paying Murray the super-max.
Murray, who will earn approximately $36MM in the final year of his current contract in 2024/25, will be eligible to sign an extension worth up to his standard max (30% of the cap) this offseason. If he wants to play out his current deal, he could still qualify for a super-max contract (worth 35% of the cap) with the Nuggets by making an All-NBA team in 2024/25.
Murray joins Joel Embiid, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, and LaMelo Ball as a few of the stars who are no longer eligible for an All-NBA berth or other major awards in 2023/24 due to the number of games they’ve missed. Others, including Trae Young, may join that group before the end of the season.
That sucks, but I think he’d be happier being healthy for the playoffs. Murray seems like the kind of guy who doesn’t let problems get in the way of performing at his best.
He definitely brings it when he’s out there. Good point.
Lets be honest. He wouldn’t have made an All-NBA team anyway. And that was the only award he would have been considered for.
It’s more important that he is healthy for the playoffs again. Murray is a great playoff performer. If there were All-NBA playoff teams, he would be a top candidate.
Facts! He wasn’t winning any awards anyway. Nobody on Denver is worried about that.
I don’t care how good a guy is, part time players shouldn’t be eligible for awards. Health is a part of sports.
I agree to a certain point but putting an arbitrary number feels a little too short-sighted.
Looking back, voters already took that into account since the number of award winners playing less than 80% of the games was already pretty rare (without lockouts/covid).
The only part time players in the NBA are bench players. Injuries are Part of the game. They happen. How they should affect eligibility for any award is irrelevant to winning. Healthy Murray is a scoring machine. Top 5 guard. 60 games or 40 games . I want him Healthy when it matters.
Most of the players that won awards already played most of the games. This was never a problem, the nba never had injured players or players that played few games winning awards.
This rule purpose is ONLY to reduce load management/player resting and nothing else, dont get it twisted. Injured players never got awards, got it?
I anticipate grievances filed during the off-season.
Hopefully he can play tomorrow, which would mean it’s not serious.
I’m a Nuggets fan and love Jamal, but he’s incredibly unlucky. Denver doesn’t have the depth to make a Finals run if he can’t play. Some of the bench guys need to step up.
Murray doesn’t get the respect he deserves. Most NBA teams would love to have a player like Murray on their roster. Hopefully he’s an all-star next year.
He wasnt going to win anything regardless so