Kentucky’s Jamal Murray is ready to show his game on the International stage as Canada is set to play their first game in the Pan American Games that begin this week.
Murray sounds like he has a lot to prove about himself and his home nation of Canada.
He tells Sportsnet, he’s excited to pick the brains of NBAers Anthony Bennett and Andrew Nicholson.
“It’s going to be a good experience to get to see what they see in the NBA,” says Murray.
“I’m just looking to create chemistry off the court and hopefully, that’ll translate to on the court.”
The 19-year-old has been projected as a lottery pick once he’s eligible for the NBA Draft, and he reportedly turned down a seven-figure offer overseas in favour of studying and playing at Kentucky.
Murray tells Sportsnet, he wants to prove basketballers can stay in Canada for high school and still make it to the NBA.
“That’s just something that was a personal thing for me and my family — to be able to stay home and train, and continue the work that we’ve put in all those years,” he says.
“We didn’t want to just send me off and put me in the hands of somebody else; we wanted to do this as a family.”
Canada squares off with the Dominican Republic this Tuesday at 6pm eastern and will be streamed live on ESPN3.
