Jusuf Nurkić

Jusuf Nurkić (born August 23, 1994) is a Bosnian professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Standing at 7 ft 0 in (2.13 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 team internationally.

Early career

Born in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nurkić began playing basketball at 14-years-old after Bosnian sports agent Enes Trnovčević took him to Slovenia and gave him an opportunity to play.^[1] Nurkić played in the youth categories for Slovenian team Zlatorog Laško.^[2] In February 2012, he was briefly loaned to Union Olimpija in order to play the Nike International Junior Tournament which was held in Belgrade. Nurkić attracted attention internationally by averaging 18.8 points and 11 rebounds over 5 games.^[2][3] Shortly after the tournament, he parted ways with Zlatorog Laško.^[4] Just days after, it was revealed that Nurkić was training with Croatian team Cedevita.^[5]

Professional career

Cedevita Zagreb (2012–2014)

In October 2012, after a few months of training with Croatian team Cedevita, Nurkić signed a four-year contract with them.^[6][7] 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.^[8] In his first season with Cedevita, he had small role in the team under head coach Aleksandar Petrović, mostly playing in 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.^[9] 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.^[10]

In 2014, Nurkić was nominated for the FIBA Europe Young Player of the Year Award.^[11]

Denver Nuggets (2014–2017)

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.^[12] On 31 July 2014, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Nuggets.^[13] On 29 October 2014, he made his NBA debut, recording 5 points and 7 rebounds in an 89–79 win over the Detroit Pistons.^[14] On 1 January 2015, he recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to the Chicago Bulls.^[15] Two days later, he recorded his second career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds to go with 5 blocks in a 114–85 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.^[16] He went on to record two more double-doubles in February.^[14] Nurkić was named a participant in the 2015 Rising Stars Challenge as a replacement for Steven Adams of the Oklahoma City Thunder, but declined to play in the event for personal reasons.^[17] In the Nuggets' final game of the season on 15 April, Nurkić scored a season-high 17 points in a loss to the Golden State Warriors.^[14] On 20 May, he underwent successful surgery to repair a partially torn left patellar tendon.^[18]

On 11 October 2015, the Nuggets exercised their third-year team option on Nurkić's rookie scale contract, extending the contract through the 2016–17 season.^[19] Nurkić made his 2015–16 season debut on 2 January against the Golden State Warriors, having been inactive for the first two months of the season due to recovering from his torn left patellar tendon.^[20] Four days later, he recorded 15 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks in a 78–74 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.^[21] On 12 March, he scored a season-high 17 points in a 116–100 win over the Washington Wizards.^[22] He topped that mark twice in late March, scoring 18 points against the Los Angeles Lakers on 25 March,^[23] and 19 points against the Los Angeles Clippers on 27 March.^[24] On 8 April, he scored a career-high 21 points in a 102–98 win over the San Antonio Spurs.^[25]

In the Nuggets' 2016–17 season opener on 26 October 2016, Nurkić set a new career high with 23 points in a 107–102 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.^[26] Five days later, he grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds in a 105–102 loss to the Toronto Raptors.^[27]

Portland Trail Blazers (2017–present)

On 13 February 2017, Nurkić was traded, along with the rights to the Memphis Grizzlies' 2017 first round draft pick, to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Mason Plumlee, a 2018 second round pick and cash considerations.^[28] He made his debut for the Trail Blazers two days later, recording 13 points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench in a 111–88 loss to the Utah Jazz.^[29] He made his first start for the Trail Blazers in the following game on 23 February 2017, recording 12 points and 12 rebounds in a 112–103 win over the Orlando Magic.^[30] On 2 March 2017, he had 18 points, 12 rebounds, a career-high six assists and five blocks in a 114–109 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.^[31] On 9 March 2017, he had a career-high 28 points and 20 rebounds in a 114–108 overtime win over the Philadelphia 76ers. He also had eight assists and six blocks, becoming the first NBA player to post at least 28 points, 20 rebounds, 8 assists and 6 blocks in a game since Charles Barkley pulled the feat in November 1986.^[32] On 28 March 2017, he set a new career high with 33 points to go with 16 rebounds in a 122–113 win over his former team, the Denver Nuggets.^[33] Three days later, he was ruled out for the rest of the regular season with a non-displaced fracture in his right leg.^[34]

On April 22, 2017, Nurkić returned to action in Game 3 of the Trail Blazers' first-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors. He missed the final seven games of the regular season and the first two playoff games at Golden State; he finished with two points and 11 rebounds, as the Trail Blazers went down 3–0 in the series with a 119–113 Game 3 loss.^[35] He went on to miss Game 4 of the series, as the Trail Blazers bowed out of the playoff with a 4–0 series loss to the Warriors.^[36]

National team career

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.^[37] 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.^[38] He played a minor role in the senior team of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the FIBA EuroBasket 2013 qualification,^[39] but did not make the squad for the final tournament due to the conflict with the board of Bosnian National Basketball Association.^[40] Nurkić represented the senior Bosnia and Herzegovina national basketball team during Eurobasket 2017 qualification. He averaged 19.2 points, 13.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game.

Career statistics

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, and regional competition if applicable.

NBA

Regular season

Playoffs

Euroleague

Domestic leagues

Personal life

Nurkić's father, Hariz, is a police officer in Bosnia and Herzegovina and, according to Denver Nuggets' broadcasters, stands at seven-feet-tall and weighs over 400 pounds.^[1]

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NBA.com, or Basketball-Reference.com
• Jusuf Nurkić at abaliga.com
• Jusuf Nurkić at eurobasket.com
• Jusuf Nurkić at euroleague.net
• Jusuf Nurkić on Twitter