During an interview with Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, Portland Trail Blazers big man Jusuf Nurkic admitted something shocking about the gruesome leg injury he suffered during the 2018-19 season.
Nurkic, who has recovered from the devastating injury and is playing for the Blazers down in Orlando, claims he has watched the video of his injury “a thousand times.”
“I've probably watched it a thousand times now,” Jusuf Nurkic said. “And every time, I feel the same way: I couldn't do anything differently. I've done that move probably a million times in my career.”
It was a long and grueling process for Nurkic to recover from the injury, but all of his hard work has paid off. The Bosnian Beast is back in the starting lineup for the Blazers and eager to help the team make the 2020 playoffs at Disney World.
Before he got hurt against the Brooklyn Nets last season, Nurkic was playing at an All-Star level. He was averaging 15.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 50.8 percent from the floor and 77.3 percent from the free-throw line.
The Blazers went an impressive 45-27 when Nurkic was in the lineup in 2018-19. Many NBA pundits believe Portland could have competed better with the Golden State Warriors in the 2019 Western Conference Finals had Nurkic been healthy. The Blazers ultimately got swept by the Warriors.
Nurkic, who began his career with the Denver Nuggets, has career NBA averages of 11.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 310 regular-season games with the Nuggets and Blazers. Portland fans can't wait to see if Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Carmelo Anthony and Nurkic can guide the franchise to the playoffs over the Memphis Grizzlies and the other teams vying for the No. 8 seed out West.