Houston Rockets forward Kenneth Faried was teammates with Portland Trail Blazers big man Jusuf Nurkic on the Denver Nuggets, so when the high-flyer saw Nurkic's injury, he was at a loss for words.
Nurkic suffered multiple compound fractures in his left leg on Monday against the Brooklyn Nets. He underwent surgery on Tuesday.
Faried was very close to Nurkic when the two were in Denver, so the injury really affected the Rockets forward.
“I was like, ‘wait, what, time out' They were sending prayers, but didn't say what it is,” Kenneth Faried said, via Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “I saw myself. That's my guy right there. That touched me to the core right there. I felt it myself. It was a scary sight to look at.”
“I was Nurk's vet when he came to Denver. Me and him used to get into battles. He was such a dominant person; he didn't want to take any nonsense from anybody. But slowly, he became a little brother to me. Also, he's Muslim. Both being Muslim, we communicated better. We understood each other better with our beliefs and the things we have to do because of our beliefs. We understand each other.
“He was a young player trying to figure out himself. Now, he's got that role back. He was doing well. Everything was going good.”
Jusuf Nurkic had successful surgery on Tuesday. The Blazers announced they will update his status when progress is made.
No one wants to see a player get hurt, but especially to the extent that Nurkic did.
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