BEFORE Jamal Murray took over the NBA — he was a babyface high school kid playing on a loaded team.
The 26-year-old NBA Champion with the Denver Nuggets looked uttеrly unrecognizable in a recently-emerged throwback image from his high school basketball days.
3Jamal Murray plays for the Denver NuggetsCredit: Getty
3In this high school picture, Murray didn’t look like himself without his famous beard.Thanks to Instagram and ESPNPictures of Murray from his time at Orangeville High School in Ontario, Canada, were found by ESPN. He played basketball with Thon Maker, who would go on to play in the NBA.In the picture, Murray has shaved his face and is taking a group picture for his school.A lot of responses and jokes from NBA fans about Murray’s picture, and many were shocked that he played with Maker in high school.This fan said, “Jamal Murray and prime Thon Maker had to go crаzy.”One more person said, “Oh man, Orangeville.” I had forgotten that Thon was with Murray back then!””Jamal Murray looks like Joe Mazzulla in his high school picture,” joked a third.After his last year at Orangeville, he was rated as a 5-star talent by all major recruiting sites.He got a scholarship to play at the University of Kentucky for two years under the famous coach John Calipari. Murray only played for the team for one season. His rookie year was so good that the Associated Press named him to the third team of All-Americans.He was also picked for the SEC All-Freshman Team and the All-SEC First Team.Murray was picked by the Nuggets with the seventh pick in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft.Murray has played in 428 Nuggets games, starting 354 of them. During his career, he has averaged 17 points, 4.3 assists, and 3.7 rebounds per game.He has been a force in the NBA for eight years, but he missed the whole 2021-22 season because he tore his ACL in the middle of the 2020-21 season.But after he got better from his ιnjury, the Nuggets beаt the Miami Heat 4-1 to win the NBA title and it was the first championship for the team.
3Murray helped lead the Nuggets to their first NBA title last season