Nuggets star PG Jamal Murray firm on representing Canada in summer Olympics; Nikola Jokic undecided on playing for Serbia
Denver Post
Jamal Murray didn’t want the rest.
He’s getting it anyway after Denver blew a 20-point lead in Game 7 against Minnesota on Sunday night and bowed out of the NBA Playoffs well short of his expectations.
He wanted to keep grinding through a stubborn calf injury, but instead he’ll get some down time. Then, he’ll ramp up for a busy summer representing Canada in the summer Olympics, which begin in Paris in late July.
Murray confirmed he plans to play and that the calf won’t keep him from being in the middle of the action a little more than two months from now.
“I’ve got rest now, so,” he said, voice trailing off.
When asked again if he was sure he’d play, he just nodded his head.
Had Denver pushed through to the NBA Finals, Murray would have had only a couple of weeks to prepare. Now he’s got an extra month. That’s hardly a silver lining, of course, for a team that had designs on winning back-to-back championships and ended up nine postseason wins short.
Murray went through the entire playoff run being listed as questionable due to a calf strain, then added an elbow issue to the mix in Game 6 against the Timberwolves.
The Toronto native played in 59 regular season games, missing the better part of a month early in the season due to a right hamstring injury and then seven more down the stretch due to an ankle sprain.
“He played a really long season last year, got injured again this year,” second-year wing Christian Braun said of Murray. “If you saw how many people had calf injuries in the postseason, a lot of them missed time. Jamal didn’t. He was playing through a lot and balled out today. Played really well, bounced back from Game 6 and played really well.”
Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic was non-committal when asked about the Olympics and playing for Serbia after Denver’s loss Sunday.
“I don’t know, my friend, we will see,” he said. “I need to think about it.”
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