Jamal Murray Reflects on Injury, Says Nuggets 'Proved a Lot of Doubters Wrong'

Two years ago, Jamal Murray suffered a torn ACL that derailed his rise among the game's great guards and ended any chance the Denver Nuggets had of making a deep playoff run in 2021 or 2022.

Now fully healthy and an NBA champion, Murray reflected on his journey after Monday's Game 5 win over the Miami Heat.

"It's an amazing feeling," Murray told reporters. "It's been a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get back to this point. Everyone on my team believed in me, believed I could get back to myself and we proved a lot of doubters wrong."

Murray averaged 21.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 10.0 assists per game during the Finals, taking on more of a ball-distributor role as the Heat attempted to force Nikola Jokić into being a scorer. Nothing Miami tried worked, however, as Murray embraced the traditional point guard spot and had double-digit assists in four of the five games.

For the entire playoff run, Murray may have finally blossomed into a true co-star. He averaged 26.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game while knocking down 39.4 percent of his threes, lessening the pressure on Jokić as he nearly became the first player in NBA history to average a playoff triple-double and win the championship.

The next step for Murray will be sustaining his playoff growth and stretching it over the course of an 82-game season. While the Kentucky product has averaged 25.0 points per game in his playoff career, he's never topped 21.2 in the regular season and averages 16.9 overall.

If the Nuggets want a chance at repeating, Murray has to continue playing at a star level.