NBA players often have several other hobbies and talents that could someday work as an alternative career option for them. Damian Lillard raps alongside playing in the league, and Nikola Jokic loves horses and horse racing. The Joker’s fellow Denver Nuggets teammate Jamal Murray recently interviewed with SiriusXM NBA Radio and revealed his MMA ambitions after basketball.
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During the off-season, a viral video of Jamal Murray showed him making UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski submit to him within 60 seconds. It’s worth noting that Volkanovski currently holds the UFC featherweight title and stands No. 2 on the UFC pound-for-pound list.
Despite facing an opponent of Volk’s caliber, Murray could easily overwhelm the UFC star, which speaks volumes about his love for martial arts.
Denver Nuggets star Jamal Murray aspires for a MMA career after basketball
Like Nikola Jokic’s passion for horses, Jamal Murray has also come out about his love for martial arts. Defeating UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski, just three months after winning the ring, was indeed a commendable achievement for the Nuggets star.
Recently, the SiriusXM NBA Radio team visited the Nuggets camp and had the chance to interview the emerging ‘MMA’ star Jamal Murray. Noting Murray’s significant achievement after winning his first NBA championship, the SiriusXM team asked him about his future in the MMA world. To this, Murray replied,
“That’s just a skill that fellows in my basketball [team] got me in so. If not the love for I guess martial arts, then I don’t know how to make it work in my actual job.”
“If I wasn’t playing basketball I’d probably be in [MMA]”.
Defending champ Jamal Murray talks about one of his skills off the court.
Hear more from Nuggets camp: https://t.co/XWDtRPHnwv@nuggets | @NBA | @SiriusXMSports pic.twitter.com/SRaaV3MRds
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) October 22, 2023
The ‘unofficial’ match between Volkanovski and Jamal Murray gained significant traction on the internet. Though Volk tried his best to make Murray submit within a 60-second window, he failed the task for someone of his caliber.
UFC Champion Alexander Volkanovski attempts to submit NBA Champion Jamal Murray in under a minute pic.twitter.com/iQaVhceLxQ
— BASKETBALL ON (@BasketballOnX) September 27, 2023
This was quite surprising, given Murray has no significant fighting or submission training of his own. The 2023 NBA champion survived through Volk’s guillotine choke, resisting all submission attempts.
A glimpse of the video would very well give us an idea that Jamal Murray had successfully beaten Volk. At the end of the day, perhaps the best conclusion might be that after basketball, MMA might be the next thing Jamal Murray would shine his best.
Nikola Jokic stands close to Jamal Murray with his passion for horses
Everybody in the NBA knows how Nikola Jokic would rather stay with his horses when not on the hardwood. Indeed, Jokic might be one of the best in the game and practices for his team diligently.
However, at the end of the day, it all seems like another ‘day job’ for the Joker. Though the Serbian might be the current best player in the league, at the end of the day, his real love always extends to horses.
“When I’m old, fat and grumpy… I’m going to tell my kids back in the day I was really good playing basketball.”
Nikola Jokic caught up with @TurnerSportsEJ after winning his 2nd consecutive #KiaMVP pic.twitter.com/ZtxhzwnCNd
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 11, 2022
In an interview, back in 2022, Jokic revealed his plans after his NBA career. The 2x regular season MVP dreams of returning to Serbia and training horses after his basketball career. At the end of the day, he wants to be happy with his passion, perhaps for both basketball and horses.
