Jamal Murray Throwing His Teammates Under The Bus For A "Lack Of Focus" Is A Hilarious Lack Of Self Awareness
AAron Ontiveroz. Getty Images.By pretty much all accounts, the Denver Nuggets got completely shit pumped last night against the Knicks. An ass-whooping not seen at home in over 30 years
which dropped them to 9-7 on the season and the 8th seed out West. Just 6-4 over their last 10 and a +0.9 point differential on the season, it's been an up and down start for the former champs. Injuries have played a role, Jokic having a kid and missing some games have played a role, Jamal Murray not looking all that great has played a role, dogshit defense has played a role, and on a night like this pretty much everyone is to blame.
After the game when asked about this performance, Jamal Murray had an interesting take as to what the problem was
Allow me to explain how crazy it is for Jamal Murray to say something like this. It's not so much the message, but the messenger. It's your latest case of an NBA player having zero self-awareness. He may be right in terms of their focus, but you have to remember what happened just 9 days ago.
On 11/15, the Nuggets lost on the road to the Pelicans, with Murray not playing all that great. He finished with just 16 points on 37/25% splits. From there, they had an off day before a game on the road against the Grizzlies. After a bad loss, you would think one of the leaders of the team would stay focused right? Stay with the team, watch film and figure out how to fix whatever might be broken. It's not exactly a time to go and do your own thing right?
Well, the very next night guess where Murray went?
Leaving your team to make a quick pitstop at UFC309? Interesting move.
The very next night against the Grizzlies, the Nuggets had another brutal loss. This time, Murray finished with 13 points on 40/16%. So much for being focused!
So just to recap, Murray plays like shit against the Pelicans and the Nuggets lose. He then bolts to UFC and then immediately lays another egg in defeat. Fast forward 9 days and now he's throwing his own teammates under the bus for not being focused because they stayed in LA? That they were maybe too focused on their personal life? I wonder where this lack of focus could have started???
As a leader of a team, everything starts at the top. The team culture, the team focus, it all falls on the shoulders of the best players. They set the standard. So when the best player thinks it's OK for him to sneak away in the middle of a road trip coming off a shitty game only to then have another shitty game the next time out, that's not exactly the guy who should be calling out his teammates for not being focused.
Even his attempt to spinzone his comments didn't really make sense
Jamal, there is more to the season than beating the Lakers! He says he's not excluding himself, but I sure as shit don't remember hearing him talk about himself in that presser when it came to a lack of focus.
A big part of an NBA season is the vibes within a team. You can have all the talent in the world but if the vibes or the chemistry is off, nothing else really matters. It's one of those things around the margins that can take you from a pretty good team to a legit contender. Players play for one another, they go through battles together, there's no finger-pointing when things go south etc. You can look around the league and see which teams this applies to, chances are they're at the top of the standings (BOS/CLE/OKC/ORL/HOU etc).
I would not say the Nuggets are currently one of those teams. That doesn't mean they can't get there, but ever since the start of the season, something has felt off with them. They've needed Jokic to go nuclear every night just to have a chance, and maybe that's on the front office for their roster construction, but it's also on players like Murray to set the standard. If you want to be paid like a max and franchise player, then you need to act like one. If you don't, that's how you create resentment and before you know it you have a lost season of Jokic's prime.