Jamal Murray has missed the entirety of the 2021-22 season due to his rehab from an ACL injury. While the Denver Nuggets have had a solid year without their star point guard, it is clear that they are a much better team with him. The last time they were able to have a healthy Jamal Murray for the playoffs, they made the Western Conference Finals.
There is no doubt that recovering from an ACL injury is a tough process. Even though Nikola Jokic has had to shoulder an immense offensive load for the team without Jamal Murray, he didn’t want his co-star to rush back from injury unless he was 100%.
“I told Jamal, if you’re not 100% ready, don’t come back. It’s stupid.”
Recently, Jamal Murray opened up on his recovery process and the difficulties that came with it. He claimed that he has “great days when there’s no soreness” and he feels like he can go play basketball, but added that there are days “right after” where he knows that he’s “not there yet”.
I have to feel good to play. Not much else I can say. I have some really great days where there’s no soreness and I feel like I can go. Then you have the days right after that where it’s like… I’m just not there yet. Those days are really tough, because on those good days I’m on my high horse for the future. And then, those slow days, it’s tough to see the future after that.”
Hopefully, Jamal Murray is able to get fully healthy sooner rather than later. It is important for him to have full confidence in his body before returning, and it was definitely the right decision for him to sit out, rather than go right into the playoff atmosphere after a long layoff.
The Denver Nuggets will be contenders next season after Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. suit up next to Nikola Jokic. While it is unfortunate that we couldn’t see the trio play this season, the Denver Nuggets should be able to bounce back next year.
