Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic has won the 2018-19 Maurice Lucas Award.
The Blazers made the announcement during Game 4 of their Western Conference Semifinals matchup with the Denver Nuggets.
.@BosnianBeast27 has been named the 2018-19 recipient of the Maurice Lucas Award: our annual recognition given to the player who best exemplifies the spirit of Maurice ❤ pic.twitter.com/DjnYTjF8E4
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) May 5, 2019
According to the team's press release, the award is given yearly to a Blazers player “who best represents the indomitable spirit of Maurice Lucas through his contributions on the court and in the community.”
The annual award was created in 2010-11 to honor the Trail Blazers player who best represents the indomitable spirit of Maurice Lucas through his contributions on the court and in the community, as well as in support of his teammates and the organization. In recognition of the award, the Trail Blazers will make a $5,000 donation to the Islamic Bosniaks Educational & Cultural Organization (IBECO), a community organization chosen by Nurkic.
Nurkic joins past recipients of the award which include LaMarcus Aldridge (2010-11 and 2014-15), Wesley Matthews (2011-12), Damian Lillard (2012-13), Robin Lopez (2013-14), Ed Davis (2015-16), Al-Farouq Aminu (2016-17) and Evan Turner (2017-18).
The Bosnian big man then took it to Twitter to thank the organization for recognizing his work for the team and the city of Portland.
I’m honored and grateful to be the recepient of the Maurice Lucas award…. Thank you #RipCity ❤️#hadžomoj pic.twitter.com/DFLFyAaJq8
— Jusuf Nurkić (@bosnianbeast27) May 6, 2019
Nurkic is currently nursing a left leg injury that ended his season. He already underwent surgery and is now recovering, with high hopes of returning in time for the 2019-20 season.
Prior to his injury, Nurkic averaged 15.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 blocks in 72 games for Portland in the 2018-19 NBA season.