Jamal Murray’s attitude has been called into question this season and he gave his critics more ammunition during Thursday’s game between the Denver Nuggets and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. In the fourth quarter of the contest, Aaron Gordon called for a team huddle, only for Murray to ignore him.
Aaron Gordon wanted a team huddle and Jamal Murray didn’t care 😭
Bro doesn’t wanna be there 💀
(Via @PG2396) pic.twitter.com/DyWrToBi1E
— BricksCenter (@BricksCenter) December 6, 2024
That’s a terrible look and suggests all is certainly not well in that Nuggets locker room. It’d be one thing if this were some rookie or role player ignoring Gordon, but it’s Murray, one of the supposed team leaders. He is currently in his ninth season with the Nuggets and you’d expect better from a veteran like him. Michael Porter Jr., Christian Braun, and Peyton Watson were all there but he wasn’t.
While Murray’s attitude is proving to be problematic, a bigger issue is his play on the court. The 27-year-old had 19 points, four rebounds, six assists, and one steal against the Cavaliers. He went 7-16 from the field and 1-3 from three as the Nuggets lost 126-114 in Cleveland to drop to 11-9 in 2024-25.
For the season, Murray is now averaging 17.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game while shooting 42.0% from the field and 33.3% from, beyond the arc. That’s certainly not the kind of production the Nuggets expected after giving the Canadian a four-year, $208 million extension in the offseason.
Even with Murray’s struggles and poor attitude, I was previously a bit hesitant to say that the Nuggets made a mistake by giving him that deal. As time goes by, though, it’s starting to look like a major blunder on their part.
The Nuggets aren’t going to even come close to winning a title if Murray keeps this up and his contract ensures they won’t be able to trade him easily either. They’re stuck with him and basically have to hope that he gets back to his best.
While Murray has failed to deliver after signing an extension, the same cannot be said about Gordon. The Nuggets gave him a four-year, $133 million deal in October, and he continues to produce at a solid level. Gordon had 18 points (8-13 FG), seven rebounds, and two assists against the Cavaliers and is now averaging 15.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game in 2024-25.
Aaron Gordon’s Comments About The 2024-25 Nuggets Have Aged Terribly So Far
The Nuggets didn’t have a great offseason on paper, with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s departure in free agency being a big blow. They weren’t able to strengthen their roster much either, with Russell Westbrook and Dario Saric being the only notable additions. Despite that, Gordon claimed that the Nuggets got better.
“Love them. Love ‘em. Love ‘em. Love ‘em. We got better. I hate losing KCP and Jeff Green, but I like our additions.”
Safe to say those comments have aged terribly so far. The Nuggets were tied for the best record in the Western Conference last season at 57-25 and they are not even going to come close to matching it this time around. The way they’re going, avoiding the play-in spots looks like the realistic best-case scenario for this team.
For the here and now, though, the Nuggets would be focused on returning to winning ways when they take on the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena on Saturday at 7 PM ET. They might be without both Gordon and Murray for that clash, with the former being listed as probable and the latter as questionable in their injury report.
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