Blazers’ Nurkic to Lillard, ‘wish I could play with my broken leg’

The Trail Blazers have weathered the storm created by Jusuf Nurkic’s absence due to injury. Despite losing the linchpin to its defense, Portland has pushed its way to Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals. Regardless of the gruesome nature of his injury, it is clear that Nurkic yearns to join his teammates on the court.

After securing a victory in Game 6, Zac Al-Khateeb of Sporting News captured a quote from Damian Lillard that encapsulated Nurkic’s desire to get back on the court. According to Lillard, the Bosnian Beast told him he is willing to risk re-injuring himself for chance to face his former team.

“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 during the postgame news conference. “And I was like, ‘This dude is crazy.’”

Here is a video of Lillard’s response after the game (via Bleacher Report).

A return at this point in his recovery isn’t based in reality for Nurkic, but you have to give props to the big fella’s heart.