It’s a well-known fact that to be good at something, really good at it, there’s a great deal of sacrifice and hard work that goes into it. But some would consider the hard work NBA star Jamal Murray used to endure was more like child abuse than training.
It’s been noted that the Denver Nuggets star has exceptional talent and exceptionally high pain tolerances, as was evident when he recently sustained a particularly nasty “floor burn” on his hand. However, the injury didn’t seem to affect him in the slightest.
How?
Well, according to a year earlier interview with ESPN’s Malika Andrews, Murray told her that growing up, his father pushed him to do his absolute best. And part of that included some training exercises that some might consider a bit too harsh.
Jamal Murray sustained a bad floor burn in Game 3.
When he was younger, his dad would have him do pain tolerance drills — including balancing cups of hot tea on his quads while holding a squat — to prepare for moments like this. From NBA Today: pic.twitter.com/q7WNTrLAPt
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) June 8, 2023
For instance, Murray says that his father, Roger, would occasionally have him do squats while balancing a cup of hot tea on each thigh. Let’s just say it got him really used to “feeling the burn.”
In another example, Murray noted that he was told to clean up the yard in the fall, ridding it of ice-cold leaves and such – all without gloves.
Judging by the many comments the topic has received on social media and such, some might consider Jamal to have been the victim of child abuse. However, not all agree. Others see it more as “tough love” training, which obviously taught him to do his best in all circumstances, even when in pain.
It is also noted that much of the argument could be seen as a generational divide of sorts, with older generations not being opposed to more physical consequences that many younger generations try to avoid. Remember when spanking was an accepted practice in public schools?
In any case, I’d say Murray has benefited tenfold from those “training exercises.”
