It was on April 12, 2021 when Denver Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray's career hit its biggest snag. With around 50 seconds left in the fourth quarter of that fateful game against the Golden State Warriors, Murray's knee buckled on a strong drive to the hoop. He writhed in pain on the ground for a good few minutes before he received help in getting back to the locker room. The then-24 year old guard had suffered a torn ACL, knocking him out of action until October 19, 2022.

But the Nuggets' star is all the way back, erasing any doubts about whether the injury is still affecting him in any capacity in a huge way with one stellar performance after another in the NBA Finals.

“I was motivated. I was busting my a** for a good six, seven months straight like I didn't want to do it, but I'm doing extra just cause I know that we're gonna need me at this time and it's paying off,” Murray told the NBA TV crew following the Nuggets' 108-95 Game 4 win over the Miami Heat.

All his hard work is truly paying off. After all, the Nuggets are only one win away from achieving basketball immortality. But the road to recovery wasn't easy at all for Jamal Murray.

Even though he returned to action in October, it took the Nuggets guard a while to regain his previous form. Before he did, Murray had to ward off feelings of self-doubt, as he felt like the Nuggets would decide to trade him away. But now, there should be no more concerns regarding his staying power in the Mile High City.

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“It took a good month and a half… once I started seeing improvement, I was like okay, ‘I'm seeing this much improvement already? I know that by the time I'm ready to go, I'll be ready,'” Murray added.

Recovering from a torn ACL is no joke. So to see Jamal Murray play at a similar (or perhaps even better) level as his pre-injury self is quite the marvel. Now, Murray just needs one more game of exceptional production to forever etch his name into basketball lore.