Jusuf Nurkic suffered a gruesome leg injury near the end of the regular season which has ruled him out for the entirety of the playoffs. Nurkic has been seen on the Portland Trail Blazers sideline cheering on his teammates and being a beacon of positivity for a team that is currently embroiled in an intense second-round series against the Denver Nuggets. Last night, the Trail Blazers defeated the Nuggets in Game 6 to force a Game 7 on Sunday.
Afterward, Damian Lillard spoke about Nurkic and how he suggested that he played on his broken leg even if it means injuring it worse than it already is.
"Today was actually the first time that he said to me when I was sitting next to him on the bench, he said, 'Man I wish I could play with my broken leg. I would go out there right now and get hurt again if I could,'" Lillard said at the postgame press conference. "And I was like, 'This dude is crazy.'"
Nurkic most likely won't make the flight for Sunday's game, although he plans to support the Blazers any way he can.
"All I can do is cheer for my teammates and just be who I am," Nurkic said, via NBC Sports.