IT IS A gray mid-December afternoon at the Nuggets practice facility, and Jamal Murray spanks the basketball, punishing it as another shot rolls off. In 36 hours, Oklahoma City star Russell Westbrook will swagger into the Pepsi Center intending to impose his will on Denver's 21-year-old point guard. Murray craves games against players of Westbrook's caliber: MVP, triple-double virtuoso, a household name considered among the game's elite.
But today the coaching staff ushers Murray off the court because he's battling a sore shin. Murray hates sitting out of practice. He's not good at it either; he squirms impatiently, legs jangling, ball bouncing, foot tapping, hands flexing.