Murray: Bryant’s invite-only camp was “highlight” of guard’s summer

Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray traveled the world this summer, running basketball camps from Colombia to Jamaica. He reveled in bringing the game to underprivileged kids, showing them how to shoot and dancing alongside them in impromptu sessions.

But no experience was more rewarding than the tutelage he received from Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, one of Murray’s idols.

Murray participated in an invite-only camp in late August at Bryant’s Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, Calif. There, he absorbed everything he could from the 18-time allstar and five-time champion.

“That was a very, very good experience to have that much talent in the gym, watching film, weight room, playing scrimmages with those guys, getting a feel for them, getting a feel for Kobe’s mentality,” Murray said Monday at Nuggets media day. “I asked him a lot of questions. It was one of my favorite highlights this summer.”

Presumably one of his highlights was also signing a fiveyear, $170 million max extension that kicks in at the start of the 2020-21 season.

While at the camp, which also included stars such as Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving, according to The Athletic, Murray peppered Bryant with questions that acknowledged his shortcomings last season as the Nuggets made their first playoff run together.

“I asked him a lot of stuff,” Murray said. “I asked him a lot of post work, post defense. Obviously Portland tried to take advantage of that, so this season I’m trying to be able to not be a guy that’s going to be scored on like that or thought of in that way.”

The accountability is something that comes with Murray’s hefty contract.

Entering his fourth NBA season, Murray knows he needs to be more consistent on a gameby-game basis and knows that his defense can’t slack just because of his offensive gifts. Expectations rise when you get a $170 million contract.

“I look back at the way I grew up, I look back at what my dad taught me, basketball and nonbasketball, my kung fu training, my persistence, dedication, discipline, it all worked out in terms of that sense,” Murray said, when asked what his contract meant to him. “For me, as a fighter, as a mental guy, this is not the end for me. I want to do more, I want to be better, be more consistent, be better defensively. There’s a lot of things I’ve got to improve on even though this is a great deal for me.”

For Murray, it’s Bryant’s cerebral approach to basketball that always resonated with him. Last October, Murray told The Denver Post, “For me, it goes M.J., Kobe, LeBron. For me, Kobe’s basically Mike. Same kind of thing, same kind of mentality.”

With a horde of reporters surrounding him Monday, Murray reiterated why Kobe is his guy.

“It’s the mentality, the mentality,” Murray said. “My dad looked up to him first. It was Jordan, my dad looked up to him. And then Kobe came, then Kobe became my dad’s favorite player and I started watching him. His mentality. It was his drive to win, it was his ‘never give up on plays’, his confidence level in himself and what he could do, his belief in his team, just everything. Everything that goes into a championship type of guy and team, that’s the way he acts.”

Murray’s dogged approach is why the Nuggets were so confident in reaching an early extension with him. They’re hoping it yields a similar career arc as one of the NBA’s all-time greats.