Why do people talk up Jamal Murray?

[dhsilv2]

He's a borderline all-star that produces in big games and isn't afraid of the moment in the playoffs.

Streaky as hell.

Also hard to tell how good he really is because he plays next to one of the all-time greats in Jokic.

That's all it is.

2025
Game 7 vs OKC - 6-16 13 points 2 assists 1 rebound
Game 7 vs LAC 7-15 16 points 2 assists 5 rebounds

2024
Great LAL series imo so lets give him his credit.
Game 6 Up 3-2 MIN 4-18 10 points 5 assists 2 rebounds
Solid game 7 in a loss

2023 - RANGZ Year
Nothing to be critical about out west. 35, 26, and 25 point close out games.
Game 4 vs Heat 5-17 15 points 12 assists 3 boards
Game 5 6-15 14 points 8 assists 8 rebounds and 6 turnovers Team just still won

2020
Famously great vs the Jazz But
Game 5 the lakers 7-21 19 points 8 assists 4 boards and 5 turnovers

Murray is just an inconsistent player who had huge games and bad games as best I can tell. I don't think he rises or falls in big moments. He just rises and falls based on what side of the bed he gets out of.

[littlerock2277]

Is a player a good 2nd option when in the playoffs they are injured 1/3rd the time, great 1/3rd the time and mediocre 1/3rd the time?

He is a pretty good, injury prone player but wildly inconsistent. That is why he has 0 all stars.

Or maybe just maybe because he's spent his career in the west with guards like Curry, Lillard, Harden, Westbrook, Mitchell, Luka, SGA, Ja, Ant, Booker etc who were all elite first option players on their teams.

Yeah he probably would have made it in the east at least once or twice.

[Woodsanity]

Is a player a good 2nd option when in the playoffs they are injured 1/3rd the time, great 1/3rd the time and mediocre 1/3rd the time?

He is a pretty good, injury prone player but wildly inconsistent. That is why he has 0 all stars.

Or maybe just maybe because he's spent his career in the west with guards like Curry, Lillard, Harden, Westbrook, Mitchell, Luka, SGA, Ja, Ant, Booker etc who were all elite first option players on their teams.

The most he averaged in regular season is 21 ppg on so-so efficiency while being a defensive sieve and only playing 60 games a season. He was never close to being an all star.

And don't even get me started on his fiba play since you value that, where he played worse than Kwame Brown.

[Woodsanity]

He's a borderline all-star that produces in big games and isn't afraid of the moment in the playoffs.

Streaky as hell.

Also hard to tell how good he really is because he plays next to one of the all-time greats in Jokic.

That's all it is.

2025
Game 7 vs OKC - 6-16 13 points 2 assists 1 rebound
Game 7 vs LAC 7-15 16 points 2 assists 5 rebounds

2024
Great LAL series imo so lets give him his credit.
Game 6 Up 3-2 MIN 4-18 10 points 5 assists 2 rebounds
Solid game 7 in a loss

2023 - RANGZ Year
Nothing to be critical about out west. 35, 26, and 25 point close out games.
Game 4 vs Heat 5-17 15 points 12 assists 3 boards
Game 5 6-15 14 points 8 assists 8 rebounds and 6 turnovers Team just still won

2020
Famously great vs the Jazz But
Game 5 the lakers 7-21 19 points 8 assists 4 boards and 5 turnovers

Murray is just an inconsistent player who had huge games and bad games as best I can tell. I don't think he rises or falls in big moments. He just rises and falls based on what side of the bed he gets out of.

He was on a hot streak in 2023 and 2020, no doubt but then he played like trash in 2025 and 2024. Also two missed playoffs. Like I said 1/3rd of the time he is good, 1/3rd trash, 1/3rd he doesn't even play. No contending team has a worse 2nd option.

[Lockdown504090]

Watch on YouTube

simple answer

[Mavrelous]

Playoff stats Per 36 for Murray and Kyrie Irving. Which one is which?

Kyrie is actually a good comp for Murray...

[DAWill1128]

I don't see the need to discredit the 2nd option on a Championship team, that's a huge accomplishment. NBA franchises dream of finding a #2. In 2023 when they won he was throwing absolute haymakers, I thought he outplayed LeBron and AD when he went for 32ppg on 50/40/90 for the series.

As for his career the last four years he has averaged over 20 ppg while shooting 40% from 3p. His career playoff average is 23ppg. The guy is really good.

[Rubios]

He was the perfect Robin in 2023.
Not all star caliber in the RS or the PO since then.

[Blame Rasho]

It's the Embiid and LeBron stans who love to prop him up.

Pretty much… it is to marginalize Jokic.

[dk1115]

Jamal Murray is a borderline all-star

[TheShow2021]

Playoff stats Per 36 for Murray and Kyrie Irving. Which one is which?

Although playoff stats are similar, comparing Kyrie to Jamal is disrespectful. Some seasons Kyrie has been the number one iso player, while historically Jamal has been horrific at ISO and horrific in his non Jokic minutes. Murray is only efficient in Jokic pick and rolls, Jokic dho's, and backdoor cuts assisted by Jokic. One player heavily relies on playing with arguably the best offensive player in history, while the other can produce playing alongside 4 scrubs if he had to.

If they traded places, Denver wouldn't have a perennial bottom 5 bench/ horrific +- without their superstar, and probably would have at least 2 titles by now.

[tsherkin]

Jamal Murray is a borderline all-star

Correct. And his reputation is built on some very timely shooting streaks in two postseasons, primarily. He's pretty limited, and largely does his best work in sets where Jokic is the one doing the bulk of the action which leads to him scoring. Murray's a decent player, but he's not a repeat contention-level second option because he struggles to score without Jokic on the floor, or otherwise in isolation.