The rapport between Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic is a rare one at best. Two teammates brought together by a midseason trade and the dire need for a big man presence in the middle. The two Portland Trail Blazers cogs have been inseparable since then.

Nurkic came to the Blazers in 2017 as a disgruntled member of the Denver Nuggets that had been benched in favor of frontcourt partner Nikola Jokic, reportedly complaining about his playing time and his role with the team.

“He had heard stuff — ‘Oh, he has a bad attitude,’ you know, a lot of that stuff going on around me — but he was like, ‘That has nothing to do with you now,’” the Blazers big told Jason Quick of The Athletic. “I felt Dame was caring about me as a person. Probably more than he should.”

Nurkic's adhesion to the lineup wasn't the smoothest. His tendency to foul and argue every call often got him in trouble. But Lillard, who is candid, but upfront, didn't tolerate any more of his behavior right from the get-go.

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“I kept trying to make excuses,” Nurkic said. “And saying stuff I’m not supposed to say, and Dame came up and …”

“He came up and said, ‘I don’t give a s**t. He was like, ‘I don’t care what your excuse looks like’ … he was telling me I had to be accountable.”

Lillard recalls just as much:

“I said that to him a few times,” the Blazers guard said. “I remember the first time, though, because it was just like that first conversation in the locker room. The first time I saw it, I had to nip that s**t in the bud. I told him, ‘There’s no excuses.’

“I felt like part of when he came here, a lot of the criticism and his own mentality was kind of from his immaturity and him not being held accountable.”

Nurkic appreciated that raw, unfiltered honesty from Lillard, and that ultimately became the linchpin of their friendship, keeping each other accountable and always saying things just like they are. No sugar necessary.