Denver Nuggets' Jamal Murray remembers his Kitchener roots before semi-final game
Denver Nuggets star point guard Jamal Murray reminisced about his hometown of Kitchener during a media scrum Thursday night.
He goes up against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA's western conference final Friday at 9 p.m., but Murray says he still remembers time spent playing in and around the Stanley Park Community Centre.
"I was out playing at the court every day, not knowing that I would be in the western conference finals at 23 years old," he said.
Murray noted that being from Canada has often lead people to doubt his ability and it feels good to do well on the court and prove those people wrong.
He also had a message for any kids in Kitchener who had dreams of making it the the NBA like he did.
"I was a kid just like you guys," he said. "Orangeville helped a lot."
Murray initially went to high school at Grand River Collegiate Institute before transferring to Orangeville Prep, a basketball program that now attracts top tier talent from Canada and around the world.
Larry Blunt served as the head coach of Orangeville Prep when Murray attended. He is now assistant coach at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
"Guys like Jamal are the reason why I'm where I am," he said. "Jamal was going to be special wherever he went."
He said Murray had a drive and love for the game that made him stand out.
"If you wanted him to stop working on his game you would have to cut the lights off at the gym, and then he would still shoot in the dark ... and then if you took the balls away he would be in a pitch black gym, with the rims raised, and he would be in running sprints and working on his conditioning," Blunt said.
"He is just relentless."
When asked about life inside the NBA bubble at Disney World in Orlando, Fla., Murray explained life was fairly simple.
"I'll have practice and I'll get some food. Then I'll go back to my room, I'll sleep, and then I'll have a game, then I'll sleep, then I'll eat," he said.
Watch some of Murray's press conference:
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
