Jamal Murray gets shade thrown his way, Nuggets now a villain
May 7, 2024, 12:21 PM | Updated: 1:41 pm
Denver Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray is the talk of the NBA world.
And not in a good way.
After his temper tantrum during Game 2 on Monday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Murray critics are out in full force. Perhaps, rightfully so.
Unhappy with the officials in the first half when things were falling apart, Murray threw a towel on the floor and then a heat pack. This all happened during play, and the heat pack came within inches of being stepped on by Minnesota star Karl-Anthony Towns. It certainly could’ve caused an injury had he rolled an ankle on it.
On Tuesday morning, ESPN’s Tim Legler threw shade at Murray, pointing out his 3-18 shooting night in a horrible 106-80 loss wasn’t exactly a good one. He wasn’t surprised Murray missed his target.
Tim Legler on Jamal Murray throwing a heat pack toward official Marc Davis on Monday night: "He was 3-for-18. I'm not shocked he missed Marc Davis with that heat pack." pic.twitter.com/mMawnqvSTV
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 7, 2024
Marc Davis is the referee Murray seemed to have a problem with, along with head coach Michael Malone who blew up at Davis in the first quarter and remarkably didn’t receive a technical foul or maybe even an ejection.
You can also hear Legler say in that clip he “100 percent” believes Murray will get suspended. It’s something he and ESPN’s Jay Williams discussed further. Also talking about the potential injury risk to Towns with the heat pack.
.@RealJayWilliams and @LegsESPN agree Jamal Murray should be suspended for a game 👀 pic.twitter.com/Ml7dO04Xi0
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) May 7, 2024
Murray’s behavior is not defensible. It showed a real lack of maturity as soon as things got tough for the Nuggets, and they simply fell apart.
But one year after winning a title, Denver now appears to be a villain in the NBA. There are definitely people rooting for them to fail, and Jamal Murray has only added gasoline on that fire.
Game 3 isn’t until Friday night back in Minnesota, so we’ll see when (or if) the league announce’s Murray’s playing fate moving forward.