Jamal Murray: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{MedalBronze|[[FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship|2013 Maldonado]] | [[Canada men's national basketball team|National team]]}}

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'''Jamal Murray''' (born February 23, 1997) is a Canadian professional [[basketball]] player for the [[Denver Nuggets]] of the [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA). He also represents the [[Canada men's national basketball team|Canadian national team]]. He played one season of [[college basketball]] for the [[Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball|Kentucky Wildcats]]<ref name="coachcal">[http://www.coachcal.com/35349/2015/09/meet-the-wildcats-family-basketball-at-center-of-murrays-life/ Meet the Wildcats: Family, basketball at center of Murray’s life] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018071012/http://www.coachcal.com/35349/2015/09/meet-the-wildcats-family-basketball-at-center-of-murrays-life/ |date=October 18, 2017 }} CoachCal.com. Accessed on March 21, 2016.</ref><ref name="bleacherreport">[http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2589160-zen-and-the-art-of-making-the-perfect-point-guard-meet-kentuckys-jamal-murray Zen and the Art of Making the Perfect Player: Meet Kentucky's Jamal Murray] [[Bleacher Report]]. Accessed on March 21, 2016.</ref> before being draftedselected by the Nuggets as the seventh overall pick in the [[2016 NBA draft]]. Nicknamed "'''Blue Arrow'''",<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pekmic |first=Asmir |date=May 25, 2023 |title=Why is Jamal Murray called the Blue Arrow? Nickname of NBA star explored |url=https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/why-jamal-murray-called-blue-arrow-nickname-nba-star-explored |access-date=July 2, 2023|website=www.sportskeeda.com |language=en-us}}</ref> he was integral in leading the Nuggets to their [[2023 NBA Finals|first NBA championship]] in 2023.

==Early life==

Murray was born and raised in [[Kitchener, Ontario]], the son of Sylvia (from [[Syria]]) and Roger Murray (born in [[Jamaica]] and moved to Canada at age nine).<ref name="coachcal">[http://www.coachcal.com/35349/2015/09/meet-the-wildcats-family-basketball-at-center-of-murrays-life/ Meet the Wildcats: Family, basketball at center of Murray’s life] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018071012/http://www.coachcal.com/35349/2015/09/meet-the-wildcats-family-basketball-at-center-of-murrays-life/ |date=October 18, 2017 }} CoachCal.com. Accessed on March 21, 2016.</ref><ref name="sportsnet">[http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/big-read-should-jamal-murray-be-one-and-done/ How to Make the Biggest Decision of Your Life] Sportsnet.ca. Accessed on March 21, 2016.</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/25/sports/basketball/in-toronto-a-basketball-boom-north-of-the-border.html Stardom Without Skates: Toronto Becomes a Hub of Basketball Talent] ''[[The New York Times]]''. Accessed on March 21, 2016.</ref> He also has a younger brother, Lamar. His father grew up running [[track and field]] and playing basketball; as a youth, his father played against Kitchener native [[Lennox Lewis]] before Lewis began his [[professional boxing]] career.<ref name="coachcal"/><ref name="sportsnet"/>

When Murray was three years old, he could play basketball "for hours" and at age six played in a league for ten-year-olds.<ref name="bleacherreport">[http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2589160-zen-and-the-art-of-making-the-perfect-point-guard-meet-kentuckys-jamal-murray Zen and the Art of Making the Perfect Player: Meet Kentucky's Jamal Murray] [[Bleacher Report]]. Accessed on March 21, 2016.</ref><ref name="sportsnet"/> By the age of 12 or 13, he began playing [[pick-up game]]s against top high school and college players. His father put him through many basketball drills and [[Chinese martial arts|kung fu]] exercises, including [[meditation]].<ref name="bleacherreport"/><ref name="sportsnet"/>

==High school career==