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Jusuf Nurkic: And what happened in the end, Connelly didn't even want to hear about Portland. And now, in a sense, he's telling me that, "No way, we have to go East," this and that... I said, "You have to trust me on this, give me a chance," you know, "give me a chance to make something happen," you know? And in the end, it really happens like that. I go to Portland.
Jimmy Kimmel: Who do you think's going to win? Draymond Green: I think the Knicks are going to win. Kimmel: Oh, maybe they won't hate you. Now, keep in mind, we don't know… Green: I like Steve. I've said too many things about the Knicks to come back now, so they'll hate me just like Steve. Kimmel: Well, it's great to see you. And we like you here in LA, even though we don't like you, but we do like you. I happen to like you, okay? Green: Thank you. I appreciate that. That means a lot.
In a positive tone, he reflected on his period in Oregon, where, according to him, there was strong chemistry within the team. “We had that great mindset, starting with Damian Lillard, who was a real leader. He led by example. I don’t know how to explain it in the best way, but whatever he wanted others to do, that’s how it was. He could be loud, but he always led by example, whether in practice or on the plane — the guy was never late.
Jusuf Nurkic: "We never had any problems in the locker room. Whoever came in through trades had to fit into that system. Until Carmelo (laughs). He kind of stepped outside the system because he was always late, he missed almost every meeting. The coach was traumatized by that and didn’t want anyone to be late, and he didn’t have many rules, but he stuck to that one. Carmelo wasn’t like he didn’t want to come (laughs), he was like: nobody told me. If practice was at 10, he would show up at 10:45 because nobody told him it started then. He’s not a bad person at all. Far from it. He just had that flexibility, and the coach couldn’t really say anything, which made it even funnier. Later we would joke: where is Carmelo? There were no problems at all.
Jusuf Nurkic: The bubble was the hardest and the best experience in the world, probably the best basketball ever played — it was just basketball, food, and sleep. We got tested every day, and Carmelo figured out that if he didn’t take the test, he had 24 hours free. We would all be practicing, and then wonder how he got a day off while we were working. He wouldn’t show up for testing and would get a day off. It was like elementary school, they would take you by the hand to go get tested. We would come back from practice and he would already be waiting by the bus to be the first to take the test. The coaches were thinking about how he would fit in, but it was really great with Carmelo. We all hung out off the court, we were together more than with our families, especially a few of us. I remember talking with Dame, McCollum, and myself about how much we missed OG Anunoby from New York…”
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Basketball Sphere: "Damian Lillard would pull up a three-pointer from half court. The next possession, Mario Hezonja would do the same. I'd tell him, 'Hezi, you can't do that...' He was always an incredible talent. But he didn't want to change himself or accept a smaller role on an NBA team." Former Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic shared his perspective on why Mario Hezonja never fully lived up to his potential in the NBA.
Jusuf Nurkic: “Right after arriving at camp, he was extremely negative toward everyone. It didn’t matter whether it was me, Booker, or anyone else. Every practice was full of criticism — ‘you are not good enough’, ‘you should not be playing basketball’. Nobody really took his words seriously at first. We couldn’t understand that at one point he had lost his compass, that he didn’t care how anyone felt, and that is the most important thing in such a team environment. It was no longer about anything. We had a video meeting, 15–18 of us, all the coaches, and Budenholzer was showing clips of how everyone was performing. Booker tried to say something, he listened to him, and then told him, ‘Please do not speak anymore in these meetings so my assistants can talk.’
Jusuf Nurkic: After that meeting, nobody cared anymore about what he was showing. He was explaining to Kevin Durant how to make a basket… explaining to him how to score is like teaching a pilot how to fly a plane. It was absurd. In the end, he had a serious alcohol problem, that is known. Maybe that also affected things, but he completely lost control with the team. He started holding one-on-one meetings just to provoke players — Beal, Allen — you would come there and not believe what he was saying.
Jusuf Nurkic: “We had that great mindset, starting with Damian Lillard, who was a real leader. He led by example. I don’t know how to explain it in the best way, but whatever he wanted others to do, that’s how it was. He could be loud, but he always led by example, whether in practice or on the plane — the guy was never late. We never had any problems in the locker room. Whoever came in through trades had to fit into that system. Until Carmelo (laughs). He kind of stepped outside the system because he was always late, he missed almost every meeting. The coach was traumatized by that and didn’t want anyone to be late, and he didn’t have many rules, but he stuck to that one."
Jusuf Nurkic never hid that he likes Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade. Bosnian center talked at X and O's Podcast about him potentially playing for Partizan at some point in his career. Nurkic revealed that so far, at least to his knowledge, there were no offers from Partizan in his career: "I didn't have an offer from the black-and-whites. I didn't, at least I don't know that I did, but I wish that I had," Nurkic started. "I'm now looking for new jobs," Nurkic jokingly claimed, also hinting at his future.
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Utah Jazz On SI: Kevin Love on his season with the Jazz and what's ahead as he hits free agency: "I was very surprised and welcomed with open arms by everyone. I've been on record saying I've had a truly great experience here..." "[Me and Jusuf Nurkic] would be back here in an instant."
Utah Jazz On SI: Jusuf Nurkic on his pending free agency and potentially returning to Utah: "It would be easy to come back, and I want to come back. Love everything about the state and the team." "It was one of those things that you didn't have expectations, and ends up a beautiful thing."
Chris Haynes: BREAKING: Utah Jazz starting center Jusuf Nurkic will undergo a surgical procedure on his nose Wednesday that will sideline him for the remainder of the season, league sources tell me.
Jazz center Jusuf Nurkic, in fact, believes that Markkanen deserves more recognition from the NBA, with the Bosnian big man lobbying for his teammate to make it to the All-Star Game. “Adam Silver do the right thing!! #AllStar,” Nurkic wrote on his official account on X (formerly Twitter).
