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Nuggets star Jamal Murray and Emmy darling 'Schitt's Creek' have a surprising connection

The breakout stars of this year’s NBA playoffs and this year’s Emmy Awards both hail from Canada, and that’s not where the connection ends.

Jamal Murray is currently leading the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, and leaving a trail of highlights behind him. His 26.9 points and 6.6 assists per game both lead the Nuggets this postseason.

Meanwhile, “Schitt’s Creek” recently completed an unprecedented Emmy sweep, winning Outstanding Comedy Series as well as awards for best directing, writing, actor, actress, supporting actor and supporting actress. The series focuses on a wealthy family that loses everything and is forced to live in a motel in the small town of “Schitt’s Creek.”

That motel setting should be quite familiar to Murray. He once lived there.

Jamal Murray’s ‘Schitt’s Creek’ connection

Denver Nuggets' Jamal Murray (27) scores past Los Angeles Lakers' Danny Green (14) during the second half of an NBA conference final playoff basketball game Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The Lakers won 114-108. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Before Kentucky and the NBA, Jamal Murray was living in the "Schitt's Creek" motel. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

The current owner of the motel used to film “Schitt’s Creek” revealed to The Star’s Chris Halliday that the property has been previously used to house recruits at one of Canada’s premier basketball factories.

Jesse Tipping, currently the president of the Athlete Institute at Orangeville Prep, said he purchased the motel in 2011. Murray, an Orangeville alum, reportedly lived there for two years along with several other basketball recruits. It’s about a 15-minute drive between the motel and school.

Living in a motel doesn’t sound very glamorous — that’s basically the entire point of “Schitt’s Creek” — but the kids at least got a kick out of the local fishing, apparently. From The Star:

The salmon-filled waters of the Nottawasaga River, behind the property, is where many of Orangeville Prep’s basketball recruits from the GTA formed their first true connections to nature.

“The guys that stayed there, they would go out to the river and try and catch these fish with their hands. They would always let them go,” Tipping laughed.

“They’d send me pictures of them waist-deep in the water, a 16-year-old kid from Toronto or Scarborough, holding these big salmon in their hands,” he added. “Half of them hadn’t really been to the wilderness before they came up to Orangeville.”

Among the motel’s other claims to fame is reportedly being the filming location for television shows like “11.22.63” and “The Umbrella Academy,” as well the movie “A History of Violence” and some low-budget horror films.

The motel is reportedly now up for sale. Its filming history seems more likely to drive up the price than its basketball history.

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