Few people can relate to Jusuf Nurkic, but Gordon Hayward is someone who can.
Nurkic, a rising star for the Portland Trail Blazers, suffered a gruesome (like, really tough to watch) leg injury Monday night in his team’s overtime win against the Portland Trail Blazers. And Hayward, who suffered a relatively similar injury during his first game as a Boston Celtic in 2017, sympathizes with the 24-year-old Bosnian.
“I just saw it this morning. I feel so bad for the guy,” Hayward told reporters in Cleveland on Tuesday ahead of Boston’s game against the Cavaliers, via The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn. “I mean, he was having a tremendous year. I feel bad for the Blazers, too.
” … These things happen. Ironically, on this court it happened (for me). From what I saw, it looked kind of more like (Paul George’s) injury and less like mine, but as long as — I think his is just compact fracture, right? So, nothing with the ankle or anything, which is good news. It’ll be a long road for him, but he for sure can work his way out of it.”
Hayward also sent out this tweet:
Zelim ti brz oporavak brate @bosnianbeast27
— Gordon Hayward (@gordonhayward) March 26, 2019
The tweet is written in Croatian, as Nurkic spent several seasons in Croatia before moving to the United States to play in the NBA. Hayward’s message roughly translates to “Wishing a speedy recovery for you, brother.”
Here’s the latest on Nurkic, as of Tuesday afternoon:
