Jamal Murray officially opened another Denver training camp this week by quietly hoping that this will finally be the season the wider basketball public stops reacting to his existence like he is a surprise guest star who materializes only during important playoff moments.
The Nuggets again enter the year with championship aspirations, Nikola Jokić again enters the year as one of the best players alive, and Murray again enters the year in the familiar role of having to remind everyone that he is not merely “Jokić’s guy,” but an All-Star-caliber guard with an extremely long résumé of difficult shots and postseason problem-solving.
Team officials say Murray is focused only on winning, which is helpful because public recognition has been one of the least efficient resources available to him over the past several years. Denver staffers privately described the phenomenon as “the annual Murray reset,” in which a new season begins and national discourse briefly behaves as if nobody has seen him cook before.
Adding DeMar DeRozan to the roster has only deepened the conversation around Denver’s supporting cast, giving Murray yet another opportunity to be weirdly under-discussed while still being central to everything the team hopes to accomplish.
One Nuggets source said the organization considered mailing reminder cards to national media simply reading, “Yes, him too.” The idea was reportedly shelved after Jokić asked whether the horse-related postage options were still available.
For now, Murray appears unbothered. But league insiders expect the usual cycle: a few quiet debates, a burst of early offense, and by late spring the inevitable return of everyone saying, with fresh astonishment, that Jamal Murray is somehow very good again.
