What is the most clutch thing you did in your life at the age of 21?
I remember staying up for 48 hours straight to finish an essay on the ethics of Heidegger’s view of “authenticity” in his book, Being and Time. I got a B+ on the paper despite waiting until the last days to begin work on it and I felt like Michael Jordan in game 6 of the 1998 finals. The other time I came in clutch at age 21 was when my buddy Kyle borrowed my car which I myself was borrowing from my friend Melvin. Melvin was returning from a trip and need his car back but Kyle forgot where he parked it so the two of us had to look in every parking lot on campus at 6:00 in the morning only to return the car mere moments before Melvin go home.
Both of those things felt incredible at the time. Made me feel immortal. “There’s nothing I can’t do if I just set my mind to it,” I remember thinking.
Jamal Murray stepped to the free throw line with 17,000 anxious fans and 34,000 eyeballs watching him and he calmly knocked down three consecutive free throws. The stakes couldn’t have been higher. Miss just one of the three and Denver’s playoff hopes are likely dead.
Murray didn’t even let the ball touch the rim. And that was after a clutch steal on a final inbound play and an equally as clutch 16 points in the 4th quarter to help lead one of the biggest comebacks in NBA history.
Jamal Murray has ice in his veins. The word “clutch” gets thrown around far too often in sports but some players truly are more focused, confident, and downright good in the clutch. I think Murray is one of those guys. He has the requisite amount of confidence in himself, often irrationally so at his age. He has the work ethic and determination to mold himself into a winner. And he has dreamed his whole life about being in moments like that one last night. It’s no surprise he was fully prepared to knock those shots down.
Check out the full highlights below. 27 points, 7 assists, and a 21-year-old putting a professional basketball team on his back when everything was on the line and the clock was about to strike 12. It was a performance we will always remember and for those at Pepsi Center, it was a moment we’ll always remember. Thousands of fans with their jaws on the floor as this young rising star calmly took over a pressure-filled game.
