Portland Trail Blazers big man Jusuf Nurkic suffered a devastating leg injury against the Brooklyn Nets earlier this week, ending his season and putting him on a long road to recovery.
On Friday, Nurkic took to Instagram to thank his teammates and all of the fans for their support:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvmfGsWHNZN/
“THANK YOU to everyone who has reached out to me and sent their well wishes and prayers to me after my injury,” wrote Nurkic. “I greatly appreciate the support. I want to send a special thanks to my teammates, the Trail Blazer organization, the RIP City fans, my coaches, the team trainers and Doctors who have helped me these last few days. I will work hard during my recovery and am looking forward to getting back healthy and on the court and rejoining my teammates. I will be rooting them on during the playoffs. Thanks again to #RIPCity for all the love and support.
Nurkic had been in the middle of the best season of his career, as he was averaging 15.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.4 blocks and one steal over 27.4 minutes per game while shooting 50.8 percent from the floor and 77.3 percent from the free-throw line.
The 24-year-old was originally selected by the Chicago Bulls in the first round (16th pick overall) of the 2014 NBA Draft but was immediately traded to the Denver Nuggets.
Nurkic went on to spend the first two-and-a-half years of his career with the Nuggets, with mixed results mainly due to knee issues.
He was then dealt to the Blazers midway through the 2016-17 campaign and has been improving ever since.