Jamal Murray of Denver Nuggets joins elite Canadian company as NBA champion | Globalnews.ca

Canadian guard Jamal Murray scored 14 points while adding another eight assists and eight rebounds to help the Denver Nuggets top the Miami Heat 94-89 to win their first NBA title and put the Kitchener, Ont. in some elite company.

“I envisioned this as a young ‘un growing up,  so, I say as long as I stuck with the same mentality that I had growing up that I would have, I’ll be in the right spot,” Murray said in an interview the NBA posted to Twitter.

“I had to keep saying my prayers, keep putting in the work and everything would take care of itself.”

It took the Nuggets just five games to defeat the Heat as star centre Nikola Jokic led the charge once again recording 28 points and 16 rebounds in the win.

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Jamal Murray talks about playing at Kitchener’s Stanley Park Community Centre, being a role model

Jokic and Murray were a dynamic duo throughout the playoffs, even setting an NBA record in Game 3 of the Finals, as they became the first teammates to record a triple double (double digits in three stat categories) in one game.

They were also the first pair to record average at least 25 points, five rebounds and five assists in a single postseason.

Murray, who grew up in Kitchener, spent time at Grand River Collegiate Institute before moving on to basketball powerhouse Orangeville Prep where he would play with another future NBA player, Thon Maker.

From there, he was recruited by several collegiate powerhouses before he chose to attend the University of Kentucky.

He spent one season with the Wildcats, before he was selected by the Nuggets with the 7^th pick in the 2016 draft.

The Kitchener, Ont. native joins a short list of just nine Canadians to have been on teams that won the Larry O’Brien trophy awarded yearly to NBA champions.

Andrew Wiggins joined that exclusive club last year when the Golden State Warriors won the NBA title.

Jamal Murray’s dad, Roger, was understandably excited that his son was part of the NBA title-winning Nuggets

People in Kitchener were also excited for their native son’s big night.

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