Canadian guard Jamal Murray scored 14 points while adding another eight assists and eight rebounds to help the Denver Nuggets top the Miami Heat 94-89 to win their first NBA title, putting the Kitchener, Ont., man in some elite company.
“I envisioned this as a young ‘un growing up, so, I say as long as I stuck with the same mentality that I had growing up that I would have, I’ll be in the right spot,” Murray said in an interview the NBA posted to Twitter.
“I had to keep saying my prayers, keep putting in the work and everything would take care of itself.”
It took the Nuggets just five games to defeat the Heat as star centre Nikola Jokic led the charge once again recording 28 points and 16 rebounds in the win.
Jokic and Murray were a dynamic duo throughout the playoffs, even setting an NBA record in Game 3 of the Finals, as they became the first teammates to record a triple double (double digits in three stat categories) in one game.
They were also the first pair to record an average of at least 25 points, five rebounds and five assists in a single postseason.
It was a long road for Murray to win his first NBA title as he suffered an ACL tear during the 2021 NBA playoffs which forced him to miss the entire 2022 season.
He broke down in tears while being interviewed following Monday night’s win.
“It’s just an amazing feeling,” Murray said. “Blood, sweat, and tears to get back to this point. Everybody on my team in here, everybody on the floor believed in me, believed (in) me to get back to myself, and we proved a lot of doubters wrong.”
Murray was asked about that moment afterwards by reporters during his post-game press conference.
“I couldn’t really hold it in. It was just a surreal moment and everything was hitting,” he explained.
“Everything was hitting at once from the journey, to the celebration with the guys, to enjoying the moment, to looking back on the rehab, to looking back on myself as a kid.”
Murray, who grew up in Kitchener, spent time at Grand River Collegiate Institute before moving on to basketball powerhouse Orangeville Prep where he would play with another future NBA player, Thon Maker.
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Larry Blunt, who is currently an assistant coach at Oklahoma State, was the coach of Orangeville Prep for three seasons including the two in which Murray was involved.
He said whether it was video games or schoolwork, Murray always had to come out on top if there was a competition involved.
“His will to win, his competitive spirit and his drive,” Blunt said, “it really stood out. He was an outlier in those areas.”
Blunt recalls that his former player’s goal was to win an NBA title, even at a young age.
“He wanted to be one of the greatest in the NBA and that he wanted to win a world championship,” the college coach said. “And he was very specific in that, and his work really matched what his goals were.”
Blunt credited Murray’s father for instilling the mental focus which allowed his son to be so stable in big games.
“His father, Roger, is, first of all, an incredible human being. He really did a lot of nontraditional training with him,” Blunt said while noting that the younger Murray was in martial arts training.
He also credited the elder Murray for his son’s sweet shooting stroke.
“He had a little basket. He wouldn’t let him play on a big basket so he never developed any bad habits from a shooting form standpoint,” Blunt said.
“A lot of the things that his dad did I think people would maybe say that are nontraditional. But I think people may need to reach out to him because clearly what he did worked.”
He spent one season with the Wildcats, before he was selected by the Nuggets with the 7th pick in the 2016 draft.
On Tuesday, Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic said he remains in touch with the Murray family and sent Jamal a text prior to the game.
“I texted him just before last night’s game to let him know that the community was behind him and cheering him on,” he explained.
“You might have picked up in some of the media last night that one of the things he said he’s looking forward to bringing the Larry O'(Brien) Trophy back to K-Town.”
He said that the NBA star has come back to his hometown a number of times over the years regardless of whether it be for personal or philanthropic reasons.
“One of the things that’s really been special about his development as a star player has been, how grounded he stayed and how connected to the community has been,” Vrbanovic said.
“You know, he’s come back for things like athletic awards. He’s come back for some philanthropic events in some of the summers, you know, over the past number of years, goes back to the Y and plays hoops with some of his old friends.”
The Kitchener native joins a short list of just nine Canadians to have been on teams that won the Larry O’Brien trophy awarded yearly to NBA champions.
Andrew Wiggins joined that exclusive club last year when the Golden State Warriors won the NBA title.
Jamal Murray’s dad, Roger, was understandably excited that his son was part of the NBA title-winning Nuggets.
People in Kitchener were also excited for Murray’s big night.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also offered his congratulations.
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