Canadian men’s hoops team loses star Murray to injury
Jamal Murray’s dreams of a long post-season run and an appearance for Canada in the Tokyo Olympics were dashed Monday night when he planted awkwardly on his left knee.
The Nuggets guard from Kitchener, Ont., is out indefinitely with a torn left anterior cruciate ligament, a big blow not only to Denver but Canada’s men’s team in its quest for an Olympic berth.
“Obviously our mind and our thoughts are with Jamal and his family right now,” said Rowan Barrett, general manager of Canada’s men’s program. “But Jamal is a fighter, and my hope for him is that he’ll come back even stronger and even better than before.
“If there’s somebody that you would bet on to be able to do that, it would definitely be him.”
The Nuggets announced details of the injury to their star guard less than 24 hours after Murray hurt his knee in the final minute of Denver’s 116-107 loss to Golden State on Monday.
With 50 seconds left in the game, the 24-year-old drove through the lane and made a move to the rim. Television replays show his left knee buckling when he planted.
Murray grabbed his knee writhing in pain on the floor for several minutes. A wheelchair was brought onto the court, but the Canadian waved it off, and was instead helped off the court to the locker-room.
Barrett hadn’t been watching the Nuggets game, but his phone began lighting up with text messages from people who had. The messages continued through the evening and into Tuesday.
“And obviously, we’re looking at it on replay and obviously you hope for the best, but when you see [it was a non-contact injury], and he goes down, and he’s grabbing it like that, then the lack of pressure walking off the floor,” Barrett said.
Murray is averaging
21.2 points, 4.8 assists and four rebounds a game this season for the Nuggets, who are fourth in the Western Conference standings.
Canada must win its lastchance qualifying tournament June 29 to July 4 in Victoria to clinch a berth in the Tokyo Olympics. Canada’s women’s team has already qualified.