Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic has received an outpour of support from the entire league, ranging from teammates to opponents, yet even his former head coach Mike Malone has been on top of the news of his recent injury, which will sideline him for the rest of the season. The Denver Nuggets head coach, who once coached Nurkic in tandem with franchise star Nikola Jokic sent his thoughts and prayers for his former player, hoping for his speedy recovery after suffering compound fractures to his left tibia and fibula.

“You never want to see that happen, but for a guy that was a part of our family…,” said Malone, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post. “I reached out to Terry Stotts. I feel awful for Jusuf. And hopefully that team can bounce back.”

A cruel twist of fate hit the Blazers big man, only hours after he told the media of how fortunate Portland had been to enjoy good health throughout the season, encouraged by what's ahead.

The Blazers will now have to navigate the end of the regular season without Nurkic or CJ McCollum, who is expected to miss the next four games with a strain.

Portland has surely had a tough break during these last few games, despite being a perfect 4-0 without McCollum.

Despite Nurkic's injury late in the second overtime of a 148-144 home win over the Brooklyn Nets, the 7-footer contributed in what was likely his second-best performance of the season, pouring in 32 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, two steals and four blocks in a majestic performance.