Jusuf Nurkić

Jusuf Nurkić
No. 23 – Denver Nuggets
Position Center
League NBA
Personal information
Born August 23, 1994
Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Nationality Bosnian
Listed height 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight 280 lb (127 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 2014 / Round: 1 / Pick: 16th overall
Selected by the Chicago Bulls
Pro career 2012–present
Career history
2012–2014 Cedevita (Croatia)
2013 →Zadar (Croatia)
2014–present Denver Nuggets
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Jusuf Nurkić (born August 23, 1994) is a Bosnian professional basketball player who currently plays for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Standing at 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) tall and weighing 280 lb (127 kg) the center was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 16th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft. He also represents the Bosnia and Herzegovina national basketball team internationally.

Early career

Nurkić played for more than two seasons with the Slovenian team Zlatorog Laško at the junior level.[1] In February 2012, he was briefly loaned to Union Olimpija in order to play the Euroleague NIJT which was held in Belgrade. Nurkić attracted attention internationally by averaging 18.8 points and 11 rebounds over 5 games.[1][2] Shortly after the tournament, he parted ways with Zlatorog Laško.[3] Just days after, it was revealed that Nurkić was training with a Croatian team Cedevita.[4]

Professional career

Cedevita Zagreb

In October 2012, after a few months of training with the Croatian team Cedevita, Nurkić signed a four-year plus one contract with them.[5][6] After signing his contract, in the press-conference he gave a reason for parting ways with Zlatorog Laško, accusing his former coach Miloš Šporar of not giving him chance to play.[7] In his first season with Cedevita, he had small role in the team under head coach Aleksandar Petrović, mostly playing in the garbage time. In the Euroleague, he played only 6 games, averaging 1.8 points per game. In January 2013, Nurkić was loaned to Zadar until the end of the season on his initiative, hoping to play more minutes.[8] In his second season, under new head coach Jasmin Repeša he had breakthroughs in the regional Adriatic League, averaging 11.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, although for only 16.3 minutes spent onto the court. This was attributed mainly because to foul troubles and conditioning issues.[9]

Denver Nuggets

On 26 June 2014, Nurkić was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 16th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft. He was later traded to the Denver Nuggets on draft night.[10] On 31 July 2014, he signed with the Nuggets.[11] On 29 October 2014, he made his NBA debut, recording 5 points and 8 rebounds in the 89-79 win over the Detroit Pistons. On 30 December 2014, he recorded a career-high 16 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. [12] On 1 January 2015, he recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to the Chicago Bulls.[13] Two days later, recorded his second career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds to go with 5 blocks in a win against the Memphis Grizzlies.[14] Nurkić was named a participant in the 2015 Rising Stars Challenge as a replacement for Steven Adams of the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, he later declined to play in the event for personal reasons, and was replaced by Kostas Papanikolaou of the Houston Rockets instead.[15]

Bosnian national team

Playing for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nurkić was named MVP of the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Division B held in 2012, where he averaged 19.4 points and 13.3 rebounds per game.[16] He was also MVP of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship Division B, held in 2014, where he averaged 21.4 points and 12.0 rebounds per game.[17] He played a minor role in the senior team of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the FIBA EuroBasket 2013 qualification,[18] but unfortunately did not make the squad for the final tournament.

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Note: The Euroleague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season, he also played in domestic competition.

NBA

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2014–15 Denver 62 27 17.8 .446 .000 .636 6.2 .8 .8 1.1 6.9
Career 62 27 17.8 .446 .000 .636 6.2 .8 .8 1.1 6.9

Euroleague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2012–13 Cedevita 6 0 3.7 .625 1.000 .000 .7 .0 .2 .5 1.8 2.0
Career 6 0 3.7 .625 1.000 .000 .7 .0 .2 .5 1.8 2.0

Personal life

Nurkić's father, Haris, is a police officer in Bosnia and Herzegovina and, according to Denver Nuggets' broadcasters, stands at 7 feet tall and over 400 pounds.[19]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Petrinović, Igor. "Jusuf Nurkic, Cedevita Zagreb". eurocupbasketball.com. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  2. ↑ "Nurkic Jusuf stats NIJT". euroleague.net. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  3. ↑ Perko, Darko. "Nadarjeni Jusuf Nurkić zapušča vrste Zlatoroga; kam odhaja, še ni znano". kosarka.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  4. ↑ "V Laškem suspendirani Jusuf Nurkić se seli v Cedevito". kosarka.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  5. ↑ Vrbanić, Tomislav. "Jusuf Nurkić i službeno u Cedeviti". crosarka.com (in Croatian). Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "Nurkiću se ostvaruju snovi". balkans.aljazeera.net (in Croatian). Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  7. ↑ Kontić, A. "Nurkić: Napokon! Jedva čekam prvi nastup za Cedevitu". sportsport.ba (in Croatian). Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  8. ↑ Jurišić, Bernard. "hrsport.net". Jusuf Nurkić na posudbi u Zadru, traži se Travis (in Croatian). Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  9. ↑ Schmitz, Mike. "Nurkic Making Noise in the Adriatic League". draftexpress.com. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  10. ↑ Nuggets get Gary Harris, Jusuf Nurkic in first round of 2014 NBA Draft
  11. ↑ "Denver Nuggets Sign First-Round Picks Jusuf Nurkic and Gary Harris". NBA.com. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  12. ↑ Kobe Bryant notches triple-double as Lakers hold off Nuggets
  13. ↑ Derrick Rose's strong finish powers Bulls by Nuggets
  14. ↑ Nuggets rout travel-weary Grizzlies 114-85
  15. ↑ Nuggets' Jusuf Nurkic opts out of Rising Stars Challenge
  16. ↑ MVP NURKIC LEADS ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
  17. ↑ Jusuf Nurkic named MVP after leading Bosnia to U20 title
  18. ↑ JUSUF NURKIC (BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA)
  19. ↑ Nuggets rookie Jusuf Nurkic's dad is a 7', 400-pound cop

External links