DENVER — Jamal Murray was asleep when his phone buzzed with news nine years in the making. He is an All-Star.
It’s this detail that tells all of what you need to know about the Denver Nuggets guard’s evolving relationship with the game. Once, a strong goal that was set on the back burner and used to taunt him — Murray finally achieved something he had long worked for. I’m not sure that he personally cared too much about it anymore; at least he didn’t show it. But a lot of people do care, including those close to him.
And they broke the news to him before the Nuggets faced Oklahoma City at Ball Arena on Sunday.
“I was a little groggy,” Murray said after the game. “A couple of my best friends FaceTimed me on a group call and broke the news to me.”
Murray, 28, will join teammate Nikola Jokic at the 2026 All-Star Game on Feb. 15 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, marking the first time two Nuggets have been selected to the same All-Star roster since Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups in 2010.
The selection ends one of the more bizarre droughts in recent NBA history. Murray has been a champion, a Finals performer and one of the league’s most explosive scorers — but until Sunday, never an All-Star.
Asked about what he’ll bring to the exhibition game, Murray made clear he won’t be treating it like a vacation.
“I was disinterested in All-Star, just watching whatever they’re doing out there,” Murray said. “I’d rather go on vacation if that’s the basketball we’re gonna be playing. I’m down to play one-on-one. I don’t care. I’m down to compete, right? So I want to be known as somebody who’s gonna play hard every time on the court.”
Murray said he expects to find a kindred spirit in Victor Wembanyama — and would have in Giannis Antetokounmpo, had he been able to play — guys he believes bring real effort to a game that has often lacked intensity in recent years.
“I just want to be one of those guys who’s known as somebody who’s gonna play hard.”
When asked what shot he wants to take first in the game, Murray deadpanned: “Half-court, full-court.”
The selection is maybe a bit special because he gets to go with Jokic. The pairing is legendary across the NBA, but now gets another moment on a huge stage. Without one, there is no other.
“There’s a whole lot of won games,” Murray said. “I think friendship, relationship, symmetry and unspoken communication. It’s cool. It’s really cool. Honestly, it’s one of the things I cherish, being in Denver and having to play with and be a part of such a cool organization.
“In our upbringing, we weren’t very good to start. We both came off the bench together. That really was him and Gary (Harris), who kind of started the two-man and the handoffs and stuff. And then, you know, just to have that relationship the whole time, no problems. I don’t think we’ve ever argued. I don’t think we’ve ever — you know, I’m saying, so it’s cool to just have that relationship.”
Yet it was Murray who was pitted against Jokic by some pundits for years, especially because the Blue Arrow had never earned a trip to this event.
“I wouldn’t change him. I wouldn’t change him for anybody,” Jokic said Sunday. “Whenever I say who is my top five of my career, he’s definitely number one. We have a great relationship on the court. We have so many good moments, bad moments, too, but that’s what creates good moments. It’s a pleasure to have him over there.”
“I have his back, and he has my back, and we just go out there and play hard,” Murray said. “It’s fun to have that kind of relationship with the greatest player in the world. So I’m grateful for the opportunity and grateful to be here.”
The never-argued claim raised eyebrows in the media scrum. Murray clarified.
“Maybe a miscommunication on a play here and there, but no, not really. He’s never raised his voice. It’s impressive.”
Jokic joked that it’s because one guy is always mad and the other isn’t, so they balance each other out.
Murray finally relented after some more questioning.
“Oh yeah, all the time,” Murray said on if Jokic is ever mad at him. “Stuff happens. He takes the ball on the bounce in a two-point game, he throws it 94 feet, and he goes in. Yeah, I get mad. But it happens. I take a pull-up three in transition up 20, and he gets mad. But they’re not like between who has the ball, who’s taking the last shot. We both accept what the defense is doing. We both figure it out together.”
Just like Jokic propped the Nuggets to five playoff wins with Murray sidelined because of injury, Murray has kept the Nuggets afloat the last month as Jokic missed time due to a knee injury. Murray came into Sunday, ranking 10th in the NBA in total points scored and sixth 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 — it’s the kind of across-the-board production that has forced everyone to recognize Murray for the great player that he is.
Murray is already moving past the All-Star honor, though.
“I feel good,” Murray said. “I’m really happy for my dad. He really wanted me to make it. He was telling me all summer how much he wanted me to make it. And then to be here now is nice. But I want to be All-NBA. I feel like that’s a bigger award, maybe. I feel like that’s something that you do all year, and your play shows all year into the playoffs and all that. So I just got to stay hungry.”
As for All-Star Weekend festivities beyond the game itself?
“I’ll do what I have to do and get back to my vacation days,” Murray said. “Because they are out the door.”
