COLUMBIA — There was no hesitation.
“Giannis,” Collin Murray-Boyles said when asked what his “Welcome to the NBA” moment was. “Probably so far, he’s the most dominant player I’ve ever played. His aggressiveness, his speed and his size, it’s something that doesn’t come around every century. Playing with him was an eye-opener.”
OK, so Murray-Boyles, as an NBA rookie, can’t quite keep up with Giannis Antetokounmpo, two-time league MVP and one-time league champion. That’s all right.
The Toronto Raptors forward is keeping up with, and beating, several others, as he heads to Los Angeles this weekend for All-Star Weekend, where he’ll appear as one of 10 rookies in the Rising Stars event. The mini-tournament featuring league freshmen, sophomores and a G League team will be held on Feb. 13.
A thumb injury that kept him out of his last game before the break won’t hinder his participation in L.A., meaning he can enjoy displaying his talents before a broader audience. The ninth pick in the most recent NBA draft, Murray-Boyles is averaging 7.9 points, 5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, but playing in Toronto means the fans who most want to see him — those in his native Columbia, where he starred as a youth and was a standout for two seasons at South Carolina — have to get that NBA digital package or hope he lands on a cable channel one night.
But the kid’s doing well. Very well. On his own above the border, adjusting to a different culture, lifestyle and game, he had every reason to flop.
That has never been his style.
“Of course I’m a little biased, but I knew he would make it,” said Khadijah Sessions, a USC women’s assistant coach who’s worked with Murray-Boyles through AAU and individual training since his ninth-grade summer. “He puts in the time, he puts in the hours, he puts in the work. He loves the game.”
That’s why the honor arrived. And why he can’t let the celebration of how well his first year is going waylay what’s next.
This is only the first step.
“I’m really just trying to focus on the season while the season’s going on. The games come by so fast, nearly every other day, it’s hard to have breaks,” Murray-Boyles said. “This All-Star break will be the last time I’ll get a few days off. But any time I do get to go back home, I cherish it, even for a day.”
The hometown guy could never forget where he came from, even as the frigid winter in Toronto had him pining for Famously Hot weather. He at least experienced constant snow, ice and sub-zero temperatures during one prep year in Utah, but The Great White North is something completely different.
Toronto — “the scenery is very nice here,” he says — is a different world than Columbia, dwarfing his idea of what a big city is, but basketball is a universal language. He’s always in the gym, and while there’s always learning what he can from the Raptors’ staff, up to and including head coach Darko Rajakovic.
“If he sees something I need to improve, he’ll tell me pretty quickly,” Murray-Boyles said. “If I see something I need to point out, I have a question about, he’s very open to hearing me out.”
Then of course there’s his automatic sounding board back home. Sessions has been around him for so long that he’s her protégé no matter the distance.
“Every time he comes back home, we get in the gym. I’m always giving him some type of touching up his skills,” Sessions said. “I shoot texts to him every game or every other game. I’m on top of him no matter where he is, but I also give him a little bit of grace. He’s an NBA rookie and has to learn on his own.”
That’s where the jumper came from. That was really the only thing missing from his NBA resume when he was at USC.
“I knew Collin had a real grown-man strength because I put him up against grown men in high school, watching him go against 6-foot-10, 6-11 and seeing what he was going to do,” Sessions said. “We worked on his jumper because he was going to have to space the floor in the pros.”
It’s getting there. Murray-Boyles confirmed that Sessions is one of the top voices in his circle.
“She’ll text me after games and stuff, tell me what I need to do, give me my props and catch up on the team,” he said.
There’s only one thing missing. Murray-Boyles wore No. 30 in his two seasons at USC. It was taken by Ochai Agbaji in Toronto, so he switched to 12.
Agbaji was traded at the deadline. The 30 jersey is open.
“We’re talking about it. I broke in with 12, but 30 is my No. 1 number,” he said. “I definitely won’t be changing this year, but next year? Maybe.”
Switching to a lower number would be the only way he could sink.