Things could not have started much worse for Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets in their second round series vs the Minnesota Timberwolves, as Minnesota took both of the first two games of the series–on the road, no less–and Murray has struggled mightily from the field in both contests. A bizarre incident occurred in Monday evening’s game when a frustrated Murray tossed a heating pad from the Nuggets bench onto the court during live play.
Thankfully, no one was injured in the incident, but it still caused some fans to speculate that Murray may be suspended for Game 3 of the series, which will take place on Friday evening in Minnesota, and would essentially have been a death sentence for the Nuggets season.
Instead, Murray was slapped with a $100,000 fine from the league office, and has since reacted to that decision.
“I mean it is what it is and I take everything in full responsibility, so on to the next,” said Murray, per ESPN.
One person who isn’t thrilled with how Murray has handled the situation is ESPN sports media personality Stephen A. Smith, who recently took to First Take to reveal his highly-anticipated opinion on the matter.
“I’m pretty pissed off at Jamal Murray,” said Smith, per ClutchPoints on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter. “…Entitled. Privileged. Let’s call it what it is. That’s not something black men get to have associated with them quite often, so when you are in that position, how about being mindful and cognizant of it? How about recognizing the fact that we’ve lamented historically the privileged and entitled position that others who don’t look like us have had at their disposal, and to make sure that when we have it, we don’t act like that. You’re Jamal Murray. You are a champion. You are a great player. How many times have we lamented the fact that this man is not an All-Star?”
A quick 180 for the Nuggets
Just over a week ago, the Nuggets were riding high, fresh off of their second straight swift playoff victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. In that series, Murray hit not one but two last second game winning shots, propelling the Nuggets out of the first round and into a matchup with the Timberwolves in which they were favored to win, as they did in their first round series vs Minnesota last year.
Instead, the Timberwolves have dominated so far in this series, particularly in Game 2, in which they put on a defensive masterclass despite not having recently crowned Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert in their starting lineup.
Now, the Nuggets will be forced to go on the road and try to make up some ground after dropping each of their two home games, although it should be noted that several teams have been able to come back after going down 0-2 at home. Game 3 is scheduled for Friday evening at 9:30 PM ET from Minnesota and will be carried nationally by ESPN.
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