Murray responds to Brown and Kings’ offensive rebound call in Year 3 originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SACRAMENTO – All that everyone could talk about after the Kings win 122-107 against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night was the growth of their rebounding machine.
No, not Domantas Sabonis.
At the start of the 2024-25 NBA season, Kings coach Mike Brown emphasized the importance of offensive rebounds. Eight games into the season, only two players have accepted the challenge and answered the call.
Unsurprisingly, Sabonis is one of them. Third year forward Keegan Murray is the other.
“I mean, Keegan was a monster on the other end of the floor,” Brown said after the game. “Seven offensive rebounds – I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like that. Every time he got another one, I was amazed.
“He is the epitome of what it means to crash. He does a hell of a job. »
Murray finished Wednesday’s win with 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field and 3-of-8 from 3-point range, with 12 rebounds, three assists and a block in 35 minutes. It was his fourth double-double of the season – already matching his four double-doubles in his 2021-22 rookie season. He had eight last season.
He had seven offensive rebounds. Toronto as a team had eight.
“Yeah. I mean, we’re one of the smallest teams in the league, so any time I can steal and use my athleticism to go up and get a rebound, I’m just going to see what happens,” he said. Murray said.
“I got stronger, so that helped me a lot. I mean, my brother in Portland is stealing and getting rebounds. So just watching it and stuff like that kind of helped me understand that. I just fly, get a bounce. And if you do that, the ball will reward you in one way or another.
And it is. His aggressiveness in breaking the glass is certainly noticeable, and it pays off.
As a rookie, Murray averaged 4.6 rebounds (1.1 offensive, 3.5 defensive). Last season, he increased that number to 5.5 rebounds per game (1.4 offensive, 4.1 defensive).
In eight games this season, he is averaging 8.3 rebounds – 2.9 offensive and 5.4 defensive.
While it’s a credit to him for gaining weight in the offseason and bulking up to get stronger, it’s also a credit to his ability to listen to what his coach asks of him – which is a lot in the third year.
“Dude, you’re 100 percent right. I ask him to do an awful lot,” Brown said of Murray. “He often chose the best player on the other team. The best big wing player. So I ask him to do it. I ask him to score. I ask him to run on the floor and shoot 3s. I ask him to create – and then he has to bounce back. Not just a defensive rebound, but he also has an offensive rebound. And it’s every possession, every play, and he keeps trying to do it.
“You can see as he gets older and more mature, you can see his size really starts to be an advantage because he’s fast for a guy his size. And not that he’s just big, but he’s also strong. And every year he plays in this league, he’s just going to get stronger and smarter. So now, with strength catching up with size and intellect catching up with size, he’s turning into a monster for us in many different categories – and we need him, especially on the glass.
Brown also praised Murray’s “incredible” work ethic, acknowledging how much time and work he put in this past offseason.
And at just 24 years old, Brown believes “the sky is the limit” for Murray.
Sabonis, who finished the game with a perfect triple-double with 17 points on 6-of-6 shooting, 11 rebounds and 13 assists, is in his third season as the 24-year-old Murray veteran.
And like any good mentee, Murray is following in the footsteps of the rebounding expert.
Sabonis credited Murray’s ability to listen to Brown and applauded his hard work and competitive spirit.
The Lithuanian big man dominated the league in rebounding alongside other NBA greats, including three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić and four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.
But little did he know he might have to share the rebounding throne with his own teammate. Is this something he agrees with?
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” he joked. “Today was good, but maybe (only) a few days.”
