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On Tuesday, Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray sent out a Tweet that probably made a lot of Canadians very happy. He decided to announce that he has committed to playing for Canada this summer in order to support their quest in playing in the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Playing for my country is always an honour and I want to take the step and leadership role to commit to @canadabasketball this summer. I want to play my part to help push our team into the Olympics and compete at the highest world stage. Let’s go Canada
— Jamal Murray (@BeMore27) November 26, 2019
As Murray referenced in his Tweet, his decision to commit early and publicly is a result of him feeling as though he has a leadership role on the team. Last summer, it was well known that Team Canada had a lot of difficulty getting their NBA talent to partake in the 2019 FIBA World Cup tournament. Murray, to his credit, had intentions to participate but was unable to do so due to an ankle injury that he suffered in training.
Murray’s willingness to take on a leadership role for Team Canada in order to hopefully recruit other NBA talent to the team is just one more sign that our 22-year-old point guard is maturing before our very eyes. Soon after Murray made his announcement, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander also announced his decision to play for Canada. Hopefully this is just the beginning and we will see many others following suit.