TORONTO – For most of Jamal Murray’s life the answer to the question ‘who is Canada’s best basketball player?’ was always the same.
Toddlers and their grandparents would answer in unison: Steve Nash.
For nearly 20 years it was indisputable – there weren’t even any legitimate contenders. Nash, who will likely be announced on Saturday as a new member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame could go weeks without seeing another Canadian on his travels around the NBA during his 18 seasons.
But as Canada enters its golden age of basketball Murray sees one on an opposing team every other night, almost. There were 12 Canadians on NBA rosters to start season and a 13th signed a 10-day contract. Almost all are playing significant roles for their teams.
So, who’s the best Canadian now?
Andrew Wiggins of the Minnesota Timberwolves, who is one of the most prolific scorers in NBA history for his age, would likely get the default vote, but there is a long list of increasingly accomplished pros.
Tristan Thompson has won an NBA title and played in two finals riding shotgun for Lebron James in Cleveland; Cory Joseph, who has already appeared in 71 playoff games, won a ring and has helped spark the Indiana Pacers to another playoff appearance no one saw coming this year; Kelly Olynyk is helping drive the Miami Heat’s playoff push; and Dwight Powell has had a breakout year in Dallas.
The best Canadian on the Denver Nuggets in their 114-110 loss to the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre Tuesday might have been Trey Lyles as the Saskatchewan-born, Indiana-raised forward has 13 points on six shots off the bench.
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Murray didn’t have the type of shooting night that has been the norm in the second half of the season – he has 15 points on 18 shots – but for him those games are the exception and not the rule.
Ask Murray the ‘best Canadian’ question and he’s as quick to answer as everyone else was when Nash was in his heyday:
“Me.”
He says it with a smile in the Nuggets dressing room before Tuesday night’s game against his hometown (if we extend the Raptors range to Kitchener, where Murray grew up) team, but he’s not kidding around.
“That’s my goal,” he says. “And not just [the best] in Canada, but in the world. I grew up watching Vince Carter – my favourite player at the time. Michael Jordan, Usain Bolt, Bruce Lee. I’m always working to be the greatest.
“I’m not trying to settle.”
In another context it might come off as a bit rich – as Murray points out, the last time he was at the ACC he was a second-string, rookie shooting guard last season. The time before that he bought a ticket.
But the No. 7 pick in the 2016 draft out of Kentucky has reason for at least some optimism based on his performance as the Nuggets’ learning-on-the-job starting point guard.
After a slow start, since Dec. 1 Murray has proven himself one of the league’s best high-volume three-point shooters, making 42.3 per cent on 5.7 attempts a game – eighth best in the league among those with at least five attempts. It’s a neighbourhood staked out by the Klay Thompson/Steph Curry crowd. Over his last 10 games prior to last night Murray was averaging 19.7 points, five rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.2 steals.
And beyond elite shooting skill, sneaky athleticism and an evolving floor game, as he takes on the burden of playing point guard for a team trying to keep sight of the playoffs in the fast-moving Western Conference, Murray might have the most important quality of all when it comes to being great at anything: the belief that he can achieve what he sets his mind to do.
“I’ve never questioned myself,” he says. “ Even when I’m shooting 2-for-22 or something ridiculous. You have to have confidence. Your job is to shoot the basketball, go out there and score. I can’t have second guesses. They need me to do that and whether it’s happening or not, I have to be aggressive.”
It’s an attitude that shines through.
Here is what Raptors guard Fred VanVleet said about Murray, a fellow class of 2016 breakout point guard.
“He just looks way more confident, extremely confident,” said VanVleet, who was charged with guarding Murray on several possessions. “He’s having fun with the game, you could tell just by watching him. He’s playing with a lot of speed. I don’t know where it comes from, whether it’s from the coaching staff or whoever but they gave him the ultimate green light and he plays like that … he’s a heck of a player.”
And Raptors head coach Dwane Casey, who has been watching Murray since he starred as a freshman from their shared alma mater?
“Just his overall confidence. He’s never lacked for confidence but he’s using it in the right way right now,” said Casey. “His speed, his ability to go from slow to fast and still pull up for his 3-point shot … he’s still not really, truly a point guard, so to speak, but does a good job of pushing the ball up the floor and, you know, treading water as far as safely getting it to other people. [But his confidence] – That’s innate with him. I think he had that at Kentucky and I’m sure he had it when he was here in high school. He’s just a confident young man. He plays with a lot of passion, enthusiasm, which you like to see in a young player. It’s infectious. I’m sure that other players around him get that same vibe.”
Nuggets head coach Mike Malone has chosen to live or die with Murray learning on the job as his point guard. He’s been rewarded with some solid numbers – 16.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists a game – but has suffered through some growing pains with him as a defender and distributor at times.
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But it’s worth the investment, he figures.
“With Jamal I don’t see a guy that is afraid of the moment,” says Malone. “I see Jamal’s confidence growing and a guy who is never intimidated no matter what is thrown at him.”
Malone was formally an assistant coach under then-Canadian national team head coach Leo Rautins. He’s more familiar than most with the burgeoning Canadian presence in the NBA. He recognizes Murray is part of something, rather than a one-off, like Nash was for much of his career.
“The young talent that Canada has is impressive,” says Malone. “Whether or not they get those guys to all play at some point is a different story, but if they do they have a chance to be kind of an Argentina from years ago. That generation that could rival and test the United States on the big stage.”
Murray has thrived playing for Canada as a junior and announced himself as a senior when he came off the bench to score 22 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to upset Team USA’s entry in the 2015 Pan Am Games.
He said Tuesday he would like to play this summer too as Canada plays games in Toronto and Ottawa as part of their FIBA World Cup qualifying on June 29 and July 2, respectively.
“I’d love to,” he said when asked about his likely participation. “I have to think about my body first and what’s happening and rest and all of that, but it’s only two weeks so I might go out there, get some treatment while I’m at it and work on some kinks in my game and just practice.”
It would also represent an opportunity to hang out with the growing crowd of NBA talent and let them know his plan for post-Nash era Canadian – and world – domination.
“The job is open,” he says, smiling again at the idea of earning a stepping into the vacant title as Canada’s best basketball player.
“I would definitely take it. I’ll tell ‘em to their face,” he says.
He’s laughing but he’s not joking.
Not one little bit.
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