UK Athletics/Getty Harper Hempel and Jamal Murray
In the early hours leading into the morning of March 22, Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray’s name went viral after a video was published from his official Instagram account that appeared to show his girlfriend Harper Hempel giving him oral sex.
Users online could not believe what they saw on his social media account, and while the 23-year-old claimed his account was hacked, many were still left wondering if that was true, and if not, if it was actually the NBA player in the video. However, Hempel, took to Twitter in the middle of the night to ask anyone with the footage of the alleged sex tape to delete it:
Thousands of people shared their strong reactions to Murray’s alleged sex tape on Twitter, which made his name the No. 1 trend on Sunday morning. The 23-year-old, who was drafted into the NBA as the No. 7 overall pick in 2016, promptly deleted the video from his Instagram stories before deleting his entire account, which had had 422.5K followers.
Hempel, who was a star volleyball player at the University of Kentucky, where she first started dating Murray, also deleted her Instagram account.
.@harperhempel. Clutch.
Further stirring the pot, before Murray deleted his Instagram account, a series of strange posts was shared via his Instagram stories.
Jamal Murray’s Instagram account appears to be hacked. 🤔
At around 3 a.m. Eastern time, Murray sent a message from his Twitter account to explain the NSFW video. He tweeted, “First and foremost I would like to apologize to my fans. My account has been hacked, currently working on the issue. Thanks.”
Hempel Runs Her Own Photography Studio
(Facebook/Harper Hempel)Jamal Murray and girlfriend Harper Hempel.
After graduating from college, Hempel started Harper Hempel Photography, where she’s hired for various types of professional shoots. As stated on her website, “I enjoy capturing special moments in personalized sessions with individuals and groups. My specialties include senior pictures, family portraits, couples, kids, and groups of friends.”
Jamal Murray auditioning for the Meme Team 😅 (via @harperhempel)
Hempel has also flexed her skills as a videographer. In 2018, Hempel captured this hilarious video of Murray during the offseason, which quickly went viral. In the video, it’s clear the Nuggets star assumed the shot would sink, and his reaction when it bounced off the rim was captured perfectly by Hempel before she stopped filming.
Jamal Murray’s Early NBA Career
Murray, who was the No. 7 overall selection in the 2016 NBA Draft, has taken strides forward in each of his first four NBA seasons. After averaging 9.9 points and 2.1 assists in just nine starts as a rookie, he’s increased his scoring and assist marks.
After posting averages of 16.7 points and 3.4 assists during his sophomore campaign, Murray has topped 18 points and 4.8 assists in the two seasons to follow. He also hit a career-high mark in field goal percentage (45.6) during a shortened 2019-20 regular season.
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