The wait is over, Jamal Murray named 2026 NBA All-Star

Jamal Murray is finally an All-Star.

The NBA announced Sunday that the Denver Nuggets guard has been selected as a Western Conference reserve for the 2026 All-Star Game, ending one of the more bizarre droughts in recent league history. It is the first All-Star selection of Murray’s nine-year career. Reserves were selected by coaches.

Murray had gone quiet on All-Star aspirations in recent years, seemingly focused only on a second ring. Yet this year, he mentioned the goal once — quietly — and now he’s going.

Murray is the first non-Nikola Jokic Nugget to make the All-Star Game since Carmelo Anthony in 2011. It also marks Denver’s first time sending two players to the event since 2010, when Melo and Chauncey Billups represented the franchise together.

The numbers made this one undeniable. Murray ranks 10th in the NBA in total points scored and 6th in total assists this season, while shooting in the top 20 in both free-throw and 3-point percentage. He sits 11th in both PER and win shares and 16th in box plus-minus — the kind of across-the-board production that kept the Nuggets afloat without Jokic for a month and forced everyone to recognize Murray for the great player that he is.

Jokic, who earned his eighth consecutive All-Star starter selection a few weeks ago, saw this coming.

“Since the season started, I think he is playing on a really high level,” Jokic said of Murray’s candidacy. “He showed that he can dominate the floor in any possible way… he was giving us that calmness and stability.”

Now the two will share the court at Intuit Dome on Feb. 15 in Los Angeles.

Murray’s already strong case was solidified during Jokic’s absence. The three-time MVP’s hyperextended knee thrust the team onto Murray’s back, and Murray responded by carrying Denver through the stretch to a 10-6 record. With Murray cracking the top 10 in a recent NBA.com MVP ladder rankings, the case for his first All-Star berth had never been stronger.

Murray is scoring a career high 25.8 points per game, on 49% shooting from the field, 45% from deep and 88% from the line. He’s also tossing a career-best 7.4 assists per game while snagging a career-high 4.3 rebounds per contest.

This year’s All-Star Game features a new format that pits two American teams against an international squad in a round-robin tournament consisting of four 12-minute games. Each of the three teams will have a minimum of eight players, with 24 All-Stars total — 12 from each conference, regardless of position.

Jokic was named a starter for the international team, joining Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama and Giannis Antetokounmpo among the global stars. With Murray earning a reserve spot, he’ll take the court on the same side as Joker — giving Denver a reason to root for the Nuggets players over their country.

The American starters include Stephen Curry, Jaylen Brown, Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Maxey and Cade Cunningham.

For Murray, the honor validates years of postseason brilliance that never translated to regular-season recognition. A 2023 NBA champion. A legendary 2020 bubble run. Countless clutch moments that made him a household name everywhere — except, somehow, on an All-Star ballot

This season, Jamal Murray made himself impossible to ignore.

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