Earlier this season, the Denver Nuggets were dealt a serious blow to their championship hopes when star guard Jamal Murray went down to an ACL tear late in a matchup against the Golden State Warriors. Murray is now out for the season between the injury itself and subsequent surgery, putting added weight on the shoulders of big man Nikola Jokic, as well as on Michael Porter, Jr, and newcomer Aaron Gordon.
Beyond this season, ACL tears are no joke, as the more intense ones can hamper a player's entire career. Nuggets fans have been waiting with bated breath for the results of Murray's surgery to get some sort of estimate for his future health. Luckily, they are receiving what is definitely good news so far. According to Mike Singer of the Denver Post, Nuggets head coach Mike Malone had an encouraging conversation with Murray soon after the procedure:
Malone said he spoke to Jamal Murray this morning. Said he was at the point “where he was just anxious to get it over.”
Said the surgery was a success.
Malone said it was a “pretty clean tear.”
— Mike Singer (@msinger) April 22, 2021
A clean tear is the best anyone can really hope for in a situation like this. Now Murray can fully focus on healing and rehab before coming back next season, hopefully, stronger than ever. You love to see the fight and fire in a player's eyes after setbacks like this, but for both himself and his team, it's best that Murray doesn't try to rush back onto the court. He likely needs all the rest he can get after a brutal and exhausting playoff run in this past summer's bubble in Orlando, and a silver lining of this injury is that he will have all the time in the world to rest.
The Nuggets are talented, but more importantly here, they are all young. This team has time to not be too hasty with its health. For now, they are still a juggernaut in the mighty Western Conference, and with any luck, MPJ will step up in Murray's absence.
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