Jamal Murray pleads for his life after winning Best Comeback Athlete over Jon Jones at ESPYS: "Don't choke me out"

Modified Jul 13, 2023 12:06 GMT

Jamal Murry of the Denver Nuggets and UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones.

Jamal Murray's year just got better after winning the 2023 Best Comeback Athlete of the Year award at the ESPYS. Murray beat other athletes like Jon Jones, with who he jokingly pleaded for his life and begged not to put him to sleep.

In his acceptance speech at the 2023 ESPY Awards on Wednesday inside the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Murray held back tears as he recalled his journey. He thanked everyone who helped him during a difficult time.

"First off, I want to thank God, the man above for giving me the strength to endure the long journey back," Murray said.

"I wanna thank my family, my friends, my coaches, the whole Denver Nuggets organization, all the fans, for having belief in me from the start. I wanna give a big shoutout to my teammates for helping me get my confidence back."

Murray also acknowledged the other nominees for their journeys from different tribulations.

"This amazing award could have gone to any one of the amazing nominees. You saw Justin Verlander, Alyssa Thomas off the Achilles, which we all sports people know that's one of the hardest injuries to come back from.

"My man Jon Jones, I was there to watch you win (UFC Heavyweight Title), three years off. We can share this together, just don't choke me out, all right?"

Jamal Murray suffered a torn ACL on his left knee towards the end of the 2020-21 season. He missed the entire 2021-22 campaign before returning a bit rusty last season. However, he turned it up in the postseason to help the Denver Nuggets win the 2023 NBA championship.

Justin Verlander missed most of the 2020 MLB season and the entire 2021 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He returned last season to win his third Cy Young Award and second World Series Championship with the Houston Astros.

Meanwhile, Alyssa Thomas played just three games in the 2021 WNBA season after tearing her Achilles tendon. She came back last season to average 13.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.1 assists for the Connecticut Sun.

Meanwhile, Jon Jones won the UFC Heavyweight Championship after beating Cyril Gane at UFC 285 in March. Jones took three years off to prepare for his move from light heavyweight to heavyweight and did not look rusty at all, as he submitted Gane in the first round to win the title.