Jusuf Nurkić

Jusuf Nurkić
No. 23 – Denver Nuggets
Position Center
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1994-08-23) August 23, 1994
Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Nationality Bosnian
Listed height 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight 280 lb (127 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 2014 / Round: 1 / Pick: 16th overall
Selected by the Chicago Bulls
Playing career 2012–present
Career history
2012–2014 Cedevita
2013 →Zadar
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 for the Denver Nuggets 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 basketball 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–present)

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]

On 31 October 2016, Nurkić recorded 13 points and a career-high 18 rebounds in a 105–102 loss to the Toronto Raptors.[26]

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.[27] 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.[28] He played a minor role in the senior team of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the FIBA EuroBasket 2013 qualification,[29] but did not make the squad for the final tournament due to the conflict with the board of Bosnian National Basketball Association.[30] 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

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, and regional competition if applicable.

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
2015–16 Denver 32 3 17.1 .417 .000 .616 5.5 1.3 .8 1.4 8.2
Career 94 30 17.6 .435 .000 .628 5.9 1.0 .8 1.2 7.3

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

Domestic leagues

Season Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2012–13 Cedevita Zagreb Adriatic League 5 6.8 .750 .000 .500 1.0 .2 .0 .0 2.6
KK Zadar 9 6.6 .579 .000 .600 2.0 .6 .3 .4 4.1
Croatia A-1 Liga 19 13.3 .495 .000 .691 4.4 .5 .8 .9 8.1
2013–14 Cedevita Zagreb Adriatic League 28 16.6 .560 .143 .701 5.7 .7 1.1 .8 11.7
Croatia A-1 Liga 15 16.5 .551 .000 .614 5.3 1.0 .7 1.2 11.5

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

  1. 1 2 Rosenthal, Seth (January 14, 2015). "Nuggets rookie Jusuf Nurkic's dad is a 7', 400-pound cop". SBNation.com. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Petrinović, Igor. "Jusuf Nurkic, Cedevita Zagreb". eurocupbasketball.com. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  3. ↑ "Nurkic Jusuf stats NIJT". euroleague.net. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  4. ↑ Perko, Darko. "Nadarjeni Jusuf Nurkić zapušča vrste Zlatoroga; kam odhaja, še ni znano". kosarka.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  5. ↑ "V Laškem suspendirani Jusuf Nurkić se seli v Cedevito". kosarka.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  6. ↑ Vrbanić, Tomislav. "Jusuf Nurkić i službeno u Cedeviti". crosarka.com (in Croatian). Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  7. ↑ "Nurkiću se ostvaruju snovi". balkans.aljazeera.net (in Croatian). Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  8. ↑ Kontić, A. "Nurkić: Napokon! Jedva čekam prvi nastup za Cedevitu". sportsport.ba (in Croatian). Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  9. ↑ Jurišić, Bernard. "hrsport.net". Jusuf Nurkić na posudbi u Zadru, traži se Travis (in Croatian). Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  10. ↑ Schmitz, Mike. "Nurkic Making Noise in the Adriatic League". draftexpress.com. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  11. ↑ "Antetokounmpo, Nurkic, Saric up for FIBA Europe Young Player of the Year". thescore.com. 16 December 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  12. ↑ Nuggets get Gary Harris, Jusuf Nurkic in first round of 2014 NBA Draft
  13. ↑ "Denver Nuggets Sign First-Round Picks Jusuf Nurkic and Gary Harris". NBA.com. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  14. 1 2 3 Jusuf Nurkic 2014-15 Game Log
  15. ↑ Derrick Rose's strong finish powers Bulls by Nuggets
  16. ↑ Nuggets rout travel-weary Grizzlies 114-85
  17. ↑ Nuggets' Jusuf Nurkic opts out of Rising Stars Challenge
  18. ↑ "Jusuf Nurkic Undergoes Successful Surgery". NBA.com. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  19. ↑ "Nuggets Exercise Options on Harris and Nurkić". NBA.com. 11 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  20. ↑ "Warriors hold off Nuggets; Faried taken off on stretcher". NBA.com. 2 January 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  21. ↑ "Gallinari, Nuggets snap 6-game skid with win over Wolves". NBA.com. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  22. ↑ "Nurkic's 17 points rally Nuggets over Wizards, 116-100". NBA.com. 12 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  23. ↑ "Balanced Nuggets overcome Kobe's 28 to beat Lakers, 116-105". NBA.com. 25 March 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  24. ↑ "Clippers beat Nuggets 105-90, clinch playoff spot". NBA.com. 27 March 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  25. ↑ "Tim Duncan, depleted Spurs fall to Nuggets 102-98". NBA.com. 8 April 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  26. ↑ "DeRozan, Lowry propel Raptors over Nuggets 105-102". ESPN.com. 31 October 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  27. ↑ MVP NURKIC LEADS ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
  28. ↑ Jusuf Nurkic named MVP after leading Bosnia to U20 title
  29. ↑ JUSUF NURKIC (BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA)
  30. ↑ "Nurkić: Ja ću igrati za BiH, ali ne želim viđati one koji su lagali". vijesti.ba (in Croatian). November 29, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
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