Featured image: Hyperfocus Images
Joel Murray is producing a dazzling first NBL1 West season at the Mandurah Magic, but when you consider he landed three days before first playing and it's off the toughest 15 months of his life and it is more remarkable.
If you go back two years ago Murray was working out with NBA teams and ahead of his senior college year at Long Beach State University, the Texas native was feeling on top of the world and thinking the NBA draft was where life would take him upon graduating.
Life then threw him a cruel twist with a nasty wrist injury that ended his college season early and denied him the chance to be part of March Madness. He needed surgery and was one-handed for the next 10 months undergoing the rehabilitation.
All of a sudden, he found himself finished with college and living in San Diego and putting all the work in that he could, but having no idea where his basketball future lied.
Then all of a sudden Mark Utley at the Mandurah Magic got in touch and the rest is history. He would have to be the runaway MVP favourite in the NBL1 West right now and part of a team shaping as a genuine championship threat.
His numbers are stunning with 33.6 points, 7.4 assists and 5.1 rebounds a game while shooting at 56 per cent from the floor, 43 per cent from three-point range and 81 per cent at the foul line.
Along the way he's had two games of reaching 50 points but is proving equally effective as a playmaker as a scorer. It only becomes more remarkable given how he got to Mandurah, and what he'd been through the previous 15 months.
Whirlwind events to arrive at Magic
The way Murray came to be at the Magic for his first stint playing overseas after college was not anything like the way he would have imagined.
He had been advised to stay ready because a call can come and a team can want you instantly. That's exactly what happened when on the eve of the season the Magic were suddenly in need of an import guard when Taj Benning took up an assistant coaching gig in college.
Luckily Mandurah coach Mark Utley was well prepared and had some options up his sleeve, with Murray at the top of the list. The 24-year-old frantically packed up his San Diego apartment, packed what he could, and got on the plane to the other side of the world.
"It was for sure different and everything happened within 48 hours. It was something that my agent, Harrison, told me to be ready for and that it could happen so quick anytime," Murray said.
"I didn’t believe it because I was waiting for so long, but then when it did happen it was time to go once that call came with the contracts quickly signed and flights booked.
"It was a crazy experience to be on the plan within a couple of days, move out of my apartment and then get over here, and then I played like three days after I landed. Now that I look back at it, it was honestly the best way to happen so I didn’t have too much time to think about it and just get over here."
Own reaction to season so far
Given the fact that Murray had not played at all since the wrist injury in January 2023 at Long Beach State and had never played anywhere professionally, had never been to Australia and knew nothing of where he was going, it's phenomenal what he's doing.
From the moment Murray arrived his basketball has done the talking with 27 points first up against the Rockingham Flames and now averaging 33.6 to go with 7.4 assists and 5.1 rebounds along with two 50-plus point outbursts.
It's mighty impressive that he's doing what he is under the circumstances of his arrival, but he wouldn’t say he is surprised.
"I would say I'm in a unique situation for sure and the way everything kind of played out leading up to this point is crazy," Murray said.
"I was out for 15 months and wasn’t able to play, I was on one hand for about 10 of those months after having surgery so it was a grind. To get that call from Mark and Brent to come to Mandurah was honestly life saving.
"I would be lying if I said I knew I would be playing how I am right now, however, I did know that I had put the work in to make it possible. I got my mental side right too to be able to sustain myself up to this point so I knew I was ready for this opportunity. It was then a matter of going out and doing what I've always done."
Playing so well coming off the break
Murray would never say that he would want to have to sit out for 15 months again with the wrist injury if he had his time over, but what it has done has built his resilience to know he can handle anything.
Because of that injury that ended his college career early, there was no guarantee he'd ever get back to playing at the level he was, and that he would even have a professional career.
That makes him ever so grateful for this opportunity with Mandurah in the NBL1 West and he'll never take basketball for granted again.
"It was a blessing in disguise. In the moment when I was going through the situation and waking up to work out, and you try to gather that motivation even though you can only do so much," Murray said.
"It's just keeping on telling myself that it wouldn’t always be like this and I've always been quite an efficient player. But I feel like the efficiency I'm playing with now is great but I'm trying not to look at it like that.
"I try to keep telling myself that if I keep showing up every day like I did in those hard times then I know that all of the numbers and everything will work itself out like it's supposed to."
Initial dreams after college
Coming into his senior year at Long Beach State and Murray was feeling on top of the world, wanting to complete his college career and then turn his attention to the NBA, and the world would be his oyster.
There were some long and dark from that wrist injury in January 2023 and then until the phone call came from the Mandurah Magic for him to come play in the NBL1 West late in March 2024, but sometimes things all work out for a reason.
"I was through and through NBA, that's all I was thinking about and that is still my ultimate goal, but things happen for a reason," Murray said.
"Injuries happen and it's just part of the game so to say I thought it would be this way, I'd be lying, but it has turned out this way and those obstacles that I did face have made me up to this point.
"I'm just embracing where I'm at now and want to do what I've always loved doing which is win basketball games so that's just what I was reminding myself when I was going through everything I was going through.
"Ultimately when I got the call from Mandurah I wasn’t worried about anything else, I just focused on doing what I needed to do and that everything would work itself out."
Coming out the other side
While stuck in the middle of those 15 months where he missed the rest of his senior year in college and wasn’t able to take part in NBA Summer League or any pre-draft workouts, and as a result his NBA draft dream didn’t eventuate, and there were some understandably dark times.
"You get to those points where you're just by yourself and you think about everything," Murray said.
"At one point at college I was on the highest of highs, I was on all the draft boards, I was working out with pre-draft workout at NBA teams and going into my last year of college I was pre-season Player of the Year.
"You go through all of that and you're at the height of everything, and then it all just all comes crashing down. When you're going through that, you can't help but think about the highs you were at, but now that the situation is behind me, that 15 months is probably the most important time in my life.
"My trainer, Clint, would tell me that this is something I will look back on eventually and realise it was something I needed. He would tell me that once I'm through this it would make it harder to ever break me again so I didn’t really understand what he meant at the time, but it turns out it he was right and it gave me that motivation when I didn’t have any left."
Murray wasn’t necessarily sure if there was that light at the end of the tunnel himself, but he did keep working, got himself healthy and stayed ready for the phone to ring from his agent for a chance to begin his professional career wherever it might be.
"It helped me get through those lonely days in the gym and nights in the weight room when you're questioning if it's all worth it, but it turns out you can overcome those negative thoughts and I appreciate everything I went through now," he added.
"It all comes back to self-motivation and self-belief, and knowing who you are, and it was a long and lonely period, but it was something I most definitely which helped me grow as a person and obviously as a basketball player.
"It also showed me who was in my corner and who was with me, and who wasn’t with me anymore when I wasn’t on those highs. It helps you to see how the world is and how people are, and you know who is truly in your corner so that period has been the most crucial part of my life so far. It's honestly the best thing I've had to battle through."
Open to more career opportunities
Going back two years when Murray was on track to be drafted into the NBA going into his senior year at Long Beach State, and he really wasn’t even considering any other career path than reaching the big time.
However, after going through what he did with missing the second half of his senior year and not playing from January 2023 up until arriving in Mandurah at the start of April this year meant his outlook had changed.
While still having that ultimate NBA dream, he's more than open now to having a career around the world wherever it might take him.
"The game of basketball is a worldwide sport and you embrace the people that want to embrace you. Everybody has dreams to make it to the NBA and I'm no different, but everything has to click in the right moment for that to happen," Murray said.
"So whether it's in Europe, whether it's in Australia in the NBL or in the NBA, I will be happy to embrace whoever is willing to embrace me, and I'm open to anything.
"I do think about that big picture at times, but then I switch my mind back to the immediate moment and focus on what's right in front of me. I just know that if I keep doing what I have to do then the right situations will open up, and the right people will call.
"All I can do is keep going out there and doing what I do, and putting all the work in. Who knows where I might end up, it just comes down to who wants you and what opportunities present as long as you keep doing the work."
This impressive Mandurah team
Murray's story is certainly an inspirating and fascinating one, but no matter what numbers he was putting up with the Magic this season, if the team wasn’t also winning it wouldn’t be attracting the same attention.
Not only does Murray appear just about a locked in favourite to be the MVP, the fact he is doing it in a team currently sitting in fourth place with a 12-7 record makes him even more likely to claim that award in his first season playing professionally.
Murray couldn’t be happier with the team he's playing alongside with Lachlan Bertram and Jermaine Malie in the back court with him, Julian Pesava and Jarrod Molnar in the wing spots, and Michael Durr up front backed up by Dion Collins and Corey Easley.
In a lot of ways this could be the Magic's best ever chase at that elusive championship, but Murray nor his teammates are getting ahead of themselves.
"We're talking about it a bit more now that we've proven how good we can be a little bit that we are capable of doing something great as a team," Murray said.
"I feel like Mike is the best big in the NBL1 and that's across all the conferences. He controls the paint, he does his job each and every night, and we see each other every day and we might not speak much in the gym, but we don't have to.
"We have that natural understanding and can just give each other the nod to know we're showing up to do what we have to do.
"Then we've got Lachie and I didn’t know too much about him when I first got here, but then I understood he has that same underdog mentality that me and Mike have.
"Then there's Jarrod with that underdog mentality as well with all the things he's been through and obviously we've got Julian who is doing what he's always done. Then there's Jermaine who is the perfect guy to fit in to what we have going on too, and we have vets with Corey and Dion.
"You put all those pieces together and once we remind ourselves that we have to stay hungry, and now with that taste of winning it's a feeling you never want to go away.
"We're now at a point of not accepting losing and are reminding ourselves of how far we've come, and now we believe we can compete for a championship. At the same time, we're still underdogs with a lot to prove and we'll keep working hard to get to where we want to get to."
Appreciating coach Utley
In a lot of ways the personalities of Murray and his Magic coach Mark Utley are polar opposites but somehow it works with Murray's super serious and focused demeanour mixing with Utley who is one of WA basketball's great characters.
What they do share is their passion for basketball, their attention to detail and competitive drive so when it's time to get serious, they come together well. Given Utley will now always be Murray's first coach since his college career, he'll forever be thankful to him.
"Mark is the best, there's no amount of words that I can say right now to describe how great of a coach he is," Murray said.
"Everything that he does from how tough practice is to how tough he is on leading up to games, and how detailed all his planning is and the plays he calls. Everything he does from top to bottom is so thorough, and it shows how dedicated he is to this league and you can just tell with how he approaches the game.
"Everybody also knows what a fun guy he is at the same time when he's not being serious and his personality is so different to how serious I am, but he knows how to get me out of my shell a little bit so we can have a lot of fun.
"I really appreciate him because I think our different personalities end up working well together and he helps me not be quite so serious all the time. We always joke around and laugh about it but everything he has done for me up to this point is something I can't thank him enough with any amount of words.
"We all love him for everything he is doing every day to help us reach our goals, and ultimately bring a championship back to Mandurah. We all appreciate him so much."
