Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic recently made headlines for engaging in a trash-talk battle with Philadelphia 76ers point man Ben Simmons, but according to his teammate Damian Lillard, this is hardly the first time The Bosnian Beast has resorted to some slick talk.
“He always just talks some s**t,” Lillard said with a grin, according to Michael Lee of The Athletic. “Every day, it’s like most of his comments is slick comments and half the time, he don’t even mean it to be a slick comment. I think it’s just that foreign misunderstanding sometimes. To where he’s just saying something but he talking s**t. I appreciate him being himself. He’s a really honest, emotions-on-his-sleeve type of person and you need those kind of people around. So, maybe it brings that more out of people, like, it’s OK, to say how you feel. And express how you feel.”
One thing is certain, Nurkic is as competitive a center as it comes, and it's no surprise he chose to dilapidate Simmons in his post-game interview, giving the second-year guard's clear lack of shooting range.
The 7-footer has only made 11.5 percent of his threes this season, but even that baffling percentage looks better than the 0-for-15 career mark Simmons boasts through his first two years in the league.
In Nurk's eye, it was likely not much of a s**t-talk exchange, but more of an acute observation, but one that likely didn't sit too well with Simmons, the reigning Rookie of the Year.
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