How Kings rookie Keegan Murray ‘bounced back’ to take his place among NBA’s Rising Stars
The start to Keegan Murray’s NBA career was somewhat of a roller coaster.
The No. 4 pick in June’s NBA draft started hot, averaging nearly 18 points over his first four games for the Kings. Then his shooting fell off over his next 14, hitting just 34% of his field goal attempts through the end of November.
Those types of struggles are common among rookies, but instead of wallowing in it, Murray bounced back in a big way.
The former Iowa star has been one of the best rookies in the NBA since then and this week was chosen to participate in the Jordan Rising Stars games at All-Star Weekend later this month in Salt Lake City.
“I think it’s more reflective of how I bounced back,” Murray said at shootaround before Wednesday’s victory over the San Antonio Spurs. “Especially early on in the season, I couldn’t really find a rhythm. I just kept going and going. It’s really helped me, especially with our team, (they) just keep motivating me. I feel like I found my stride in December and I haven’t really looked back.”
The Rising Stars event used to pit rookies and second-year players against each other in a traditional game on Friday night to start All-Star Weekend. But the format changed last year with 11 rookies and 10-second year players getting picked to three teams of seven, with a fourth team being comprised of seven G League players. The four teams then participate in a three-game tournament, which will be held Feb. 17.
Since the start of December, Murray is hitting 48.1% of his 3-pointers through January, the best clip among qualified shooters in the NBA. He’s done it while averaging 6.2 attempts per game. He was named Western Conference rookie of the Month in December and on Thursday captured his second consecutive Rookie of the Month award for January.
His 48 makes from distance in January were the most by a rookie in NBA history while he leads rookies in just about every shooting category for the month.
“It’s crazy to see a rookie come in and shoot the ball so well from 3,” Kings guard Malik Monk said. “Usually it’s from the free-throw line, mid-range, stuff like that. But him coming in to make an impact from the 3-point line, tremendously, that’s huge.”
Murray is a key reason the Kings’ offense has been among the top three in the NBA in efficiency for most of the season. Sacramento has enjoyed both Murray and Harrison Barnes shooting 49.5% from 3 in the team’s 15 games before Wednesday.
Kings coach Mike Brown has pushed Murray to be more aggressive throughout the season, particularly when it comes to rebounding and going strong to the rim when his 3-point shots are taken away.
Murray said his mother, Michelle, is likely to make the trip to Utah to watch him play during All-Star weekend. His father, Kenyon, is expected to be busy coaching Keegan’s little sister’s basketball team at Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Murray has played in 48 games in the NBA after appearing in 31 and 35, respectively, during his two college seasons. There hasn’t been any sign of him hitting the rookie wall just yet, though it might be worth monitoring as the Kings get deeper into their season while hunting to end their 16-year playoff drought.
“In college, you had those three-hour practices and fewer games,” he said. “Here, you have fewer practices and more games. And I’d rather have it this way. My body feels fine, so it’s going good so far.”
Brown throughout the season has challenged the rookie to become more aggressive as a scorer and rebounder. That happened in January, when Murray bumped his 46% field-goal percentage in December to 51% and his rebounds from 3.5 to 5.9. Murray had seven rebounds in Wednesday’s win in San Antonio.
Since making Murray a fixture in the starting lineup early in the regular season, Brown has coached Murray hard. One instance came Wednesday when he took Murray onto the court during a timeout in San Antonio and went over his defensive positioning.
Brown has reiterated throughout the year that Murray is in a unique position for a player drafted fourth overall. He’s playing on a team with a chance to make a playoff run, while most teams drafting that high in the lottery allow their rookies to play through mistakes in their development.
“There’s a little bit more pressure, I feel,” Brown said. “Because he doesn’t necessarily have the freedom to play through a ton of mistakes. I’m on him for every little mistake he makes. ... We’re trying to win now. We feel like we have the guys to win now, so he’s got to play at a high level in order to stay there and contribute, which says a lot (about) the season he’s having as a rookie.”
This story was originally published February 2, 2023 at 9:19 AM.
