Countless Seinfeld fans—myself included—have made the pilgrimage to Tom’s Restaurant (the exterior for George and Jerry’s favorite hangout, Monk’s Café) on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Now fans of Canadian sitcom Schitt’s Creek, the recent winner of nine primetime Emmy Awards, are making the trek to Orangeville, Ontario, site of the show’s iconic Rosebud Motel. Roughly an hour drive from Toronto, the motel once housed basketball players from local Orangeville Prep including one alum who took the NBA by storm in Orlando this past summer—Nuggets superstar Jamal Murray.
A native of Kitchener, Ontario, Murray shacked up at Rosebud along with teammates and coach Larry Blunt for his final two years of high school before landing at the University of Kentucky. Two of Murray’s teammates—Pistons center Thon Maker and Heat forward Kyle Alexander (Murray’s roommate at Orangeville)—also went on to play in the NBA. When he wasn’t busy hooping or studying, Murray could often be seen on the property, bonding with teammates over games of manhunt, impromptu snowball fights (weather permitting) and exploring the stream behind the motel.
There wasn’t much interaction between athletes and actors. In fact, players were removed from the motel and housed at a nearby Best Western during filming, though Blunt’s experience at Rosebud did include a chance encounter with Eugene Levy, whose portrayal of Johnny Rose earned him an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. “I [thought] I left something over at ‘The Rez,’ and I drove back over to get it and Eugene Levy was sitting outside,” Blunt told Braydon Holmyard of the Toronto Star. “It was kind of a moment where we’re both looking at each other like, ‘what are you doing here?’”
“It’s like two worlds colliding,” said owner Jesse Tipping, who stopped housing students at the motel when the school (now known as the Athlete Institute) built an on-site residence three years ago. “At the time Jamal was just a high school kid and I would tell the cast, ‘this kid’s gonna’ be a star.’ But everyone says that and now they’re sort of both stars.”
If Murray wasn’t a star before he came to the Bubble, he certainly left as one, averaging 26.5 points on 50.5-percent shooting including 45.3 percent from downtown throughout Denver’s postseason run. Murray’s playoff breakout included a pair of 50-point outbursts against Utah in a series that saw the Nuggets erase a 3-1 deficit to win in seven games.
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