After Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kristaps Porzingis, it’s the turn of Jamal Murray to formalize his package for the World Cup. Since the beginning of the preparation, the leader of the Nuggets was training away, and he had not accompanied his teammates to Europe for their first friendly matches.
This did not bode well for the future, and the player issued a statement to announce his decision.
“When I started training camp, I wanted to assess how my body would react after a long and demanding season and if I would be physically capable of competing at the highest level required for the World Cup” writes Murray. “After consulting with the team medical staff, it became clear that I needed more time to recover. Therefore, I had to make the difficult decision not to participate in the tournament. Representing Canada at the Olympics remains a dream of mine and I will support the team on their journey towards that goal.”
Like Jokic, Murray prefers to recover from his trying season, which ended in mid-June with a first NBA title. For Canada, opponent of France in the first round, it’s a big deal, but the team remains of high quality with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dillon Brooks, RJ Barrett or Kelly Olynyk and Lu Dort.
