The NBA's All-Star rosters have officially been confirmed ahead of the 2024 All-Star Weekend, and there are no shortage of snubs.
In the East, Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young was not initially selected, before being named as an injury replacement, while both of the Sacramento Kings franchise cornerstones De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis missed the cut in the West.
One name that many expected to see on the All-Star rosters during the pre-season was Jamal Murray, the running mate of current Finals MVP Nikola Jokic tipped to receive his first nod following a dominant playoff run.
But an injury setback, combined with a logjam of talent in the Western Conference has once again seen the Canadian point guard go wanting, something he is disappointed with, but understands.
Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets reacts to All-Star snub
Despite being one of the NBA's most elite guards, 2024 marks yet another year where he will not represent the Western Conference as an All-Star, barring injury.
Murray believes he has played at an All-Star level this season, but understands not being selected, telling The Denver Post that he will use the snub as motivation.
MORE: Scottie Barnes, Trae Young named All-Star injury replacements
"Yeah, of course, but there’s multiple players in the league that should be All-Stars, you know what I’m saying?” Murray said.
"[De’Aaron] Fox wasn’t an All-Star. There’s somebody else. Trae [Young] wasn’t an All-Star. So...what do you want me to do now?
"I think you guys have seen me play at a pretty high level against those same guys who are All-Stars."
Two-time MVP Nikola Jokic argued a more passionate case for his teammate, saying that he could not understand how Murray had been passed over once again.
"I mean, it’s every year,… I feel, or we feel, that he’s supposed to be [an All-Star], but maybe that’s just us," Jokic said.
But easily Murray's biggest defender was his coach Michael Malone, who went to bat for the guard in a major way.
"This year I felt that Jamal Murray had a great case to be an All-Star, but that wasn’t the case and I feel for Jamal," Malone said.
"But in a weird way, he may not be an All-Star, but to me, he’s a superstar. He’s a world champion, and he’s done things in the playoffs that a lot of All-Stars have never and will never do.
"That’s one thing no one can ever take from Jamal Murray.…What I love about Jamal is he’s a team player, and he’d much rather help this team win a back-to-back championship over being named an All-Star."
Jamal Murray stats
Jamal Murray has had a solid season in 2023-24, which has been somewhat interrupted by injury.
He has played in 37 of the Nuggets' 51 games so far, averaging 21 points, 6.6 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game in his outings.
- 21.0 points
- 6.6 assists
- 4.0 rebounds
- 0.8 steals
- 0.7 blocks
- 47.1% field goals
- 40.6% 3-pointers
- 85.4% free throws
