Less than 48 hours after suffering a gruesome leg injury in the overtime period of the Portland Trail Blazers' 148-144 win against the Brooklyn Nets, Jusuf Nurkic was seen in the Blazers' huddle last night before they faced the Chicago Bulls.
Well, he wasn't technically there.
Before taking the court tonight vs. the Bulls, the Blazers had a special visitor in their locker room: Jusuf Nurkic via FaceTime. Afterward, they huddled together and shouted, “1. 2. 3. Nurk!”
— Joe Freeman (@BlazerFreeman) March 28, 2019
Portland went on to beat Chicago 118-98.
Nurkic underwent season ending surgery to repair compound fractures. The good news is the Bosnian big man avoided any nerve damage, meaning he could be back at some point next season. For now, the Blazers' players are happy to see him in the huddle, even if it's just through an app used for video calling.
In a series of interviews with Dwight Jaynes of NBC Sports, several Blazers players were happy to see Nurk during their locker room huddle before facing the Bulls. Back up center Zach Collins said he was happy to see Nurkic in good spirits despite suffering a serious leg injury.
“That was awesome. It was so cool. Kind of a surprise for us. He was able to hear us, he was wearing a Rip City shirt. He kind of got in the huddle with us, too. It was special.
“It was cool to see him in good spirits after what happened. It was not even two days ago. To see him in good spirits was cool.
“He was pretty heavily medicated but we got a smile out of him and a laugh, so it was good.”
Enes Kanter, who started in Nurk's place, said he's inspired by the big man's optimism.
“Just to see his face and just to hear his voice before the game gave us so much positive motivation. That gave us so much positive energy. We actually brought him in the huddle together and said, ‘1-2-3, Nurk!’ It was so much positive energy.
“We couldn’t really hear his voice but we saw his face. He was in bed laying down. It meant a lot to us.”
Nurkic is one of the best players for the Blazers this season, averaging 15.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks. He's one of the main reasons why Portland is one of the top four teams in the Western Conference, and his loss will definitely cripple them in the playoffs.
Follow Us
Subscribe