Jamal Murray didn’t make vacation plans this year.
When asked last week if he was nervous about the All-Star reveal, he answered with a definitive no.
That’s how clear his case was by the end of January. Long considered one of the best players in the NBA never recognized as an All-Star, Murray can finally shed that back-handed compliment of a title as of Sunday. The 28-year-old Nuggets point guard will join Nikola Jokic in Los Angeles this month for the 2026 All-Star festivities. NBA head coaches voted him in as one of seven Western Conference reserves, the league announced Sunday.
Murray, who’s from Canada, will compete on the “world team” with Jokic and six other international players in a round robin tournament at Intuit Dome.
“When I saw (the announcement), so many things went through my mind,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. “Multiple 50-point games. Multiple 50-point games in the playoffs. Let’s see. Triple-double in the Finals. NBA champion. Most wins in the West over the last 10 years. He’s the point guard of that team. Fifty-five piece (in a game) last year. Seventeen assists this year. NBA All-Star. So in my mind, all those things make sense, except for the one that was missing. Maybe All-NBA, maybe he’ll be considered.”
Previously adorned with a reputation for starting slow and improving throughout the year, Murray set out to have a strong November and change the narrative this season. He was averaging 25.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game entering Denver’s Sunday night tilt with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was shooting 49.2% from the field, 44.7% from 3-point range and 88.1% from the free throw line.
“First of all, congrats to Jamal Murray,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said unprompted in response to a question about his own first-time All-Star, Chet Holmgren. “It’s remarkable he’s never been an All-Star. He’s an All-Star level player. And very deserving this season.”
Murray’s 3-point percentage is the best in the league among 73 players who’ve attempted 230 or more shots outside the arc. He’s taken 322 — averaging a career-high 7.3 attempts per game.
His 3.13 assist-to-turnover ratio is also career-best. His play-making efficiency took centerstage this month as he led the Nuggets to a 10-6 record while Jokic, a three-time MVP and eight-time All-Star, was sidelined by a knee injury in the longest absence of his career.
“Obviously, I’d like to be an All-Star, All-NBA, scoring champ, MVP, NBA champ. I want to be all of it, right? But winning matters,” Murray said a few weeks ago after leading the short-handed Nuggets to a win in Toronto, an hour from his hometown. “I think I try to sacrifice and do the little things for this team to win, and if we win the championship and I don’t (make) All-Star, we win the championship, you know what I’m saying? So thatap where my mind is at.”
Murray is the first Nugget other than Jokic to be named an All-Star since Carmelo Anthony. The game will be held Feb. 15 in Los Angeles this year. Twelve players have been voted in from each conference after Sunday’s announcement of the reserves.
Western Conference reserves: Anthony Edwards (MIN); Jamal Murray (DEN); Chet Holmgren (OKC); Deni Avdija (POR); Kevin Durant (HOU); Devin Booker (PHX); LeBron James (LAL).
Eastern Conference reserves: Donovan Mitchell (CLE); Jalen Johnson (ATL); Scottie Barnes (TOR); Norman Powell (MIA); Pascal Siakam (IND); Karl-Anthony Towns (NYK); Jalen Duren (DET).
