Coach Michael Malone said Jamal Murray is devastated after the Denver Nuggets goalkeeper was diagnosed with a previously ruptured cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Speaking for the first time since the Nuggets announced they would run out of stardom indefinitely, Malone said the team could see Murray suffer after the injury at the end of the season.
“It’s been 24, 36 hours of excitement,” the Nuggets head coach said before the Denver took on the Miami Heat on Wednesday night. “Jamal is devastated, of course. I think the team is a bit devastated too. We understand the importance of Murray. We are a better team when he is healthy … He is almost second in all categories [estadísticas] important in the team behind Nikola [Jokic] “.
Murray suffered an injury, with 50.6 seconds left in the Nuggets’ 116-107 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Monday night. The goalkeeper had an average of 21.2 points, 4.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 47.7% of the field this season.
With the title aspirations backed by the Aaron Gordon trade, the Nuggets were shocked Monday night after Murray came down.
“It was very hard, I stayed for that game in San Francisco,” Malone said. “Just sitting with him on the way to the airport, your heart breaks because you can see the raw emotion he was feeling.”
The Nuggets coach told his team that they need to regroup and understand that they still have a chance to compete in the West.
“Some roles will obviously change,” Malone said. “I don’t want a person to think it must be Jamal Murray. That’s not the case.”
The Nuggets will have to go this season and for the next part without their stellar guard. Malone said that, in general, rehabilitation for a broken ACL can take up to nine months.
“We love him, we stand behind him and we will help him get over this path next year,” Malone said. “I have no doubt he will return as a better player, a stronger player. That’s what he did. It’s in his DNA. I don’t expect anything less.”