Today Jusuf Nurkic is a rich and successful NBA player. The center from Bosnia-Herzegovina just got a huge contract. His path to becoming a professional could hardly have started any stranger. Len Werle of open court basketball wrote his story.
The way Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic, who just signed a four-year, $70 million contract, was discovered is one of the most amazing stories I’ve ever heard.
Nurkic was once discovered because of his father, Hariz Nurkic, he is a police officer in Bosnia. Hariz is huge, longer than 2.10 meters, he weighs almost 200 kilos. When his son Yusuf was 14 years old, the Bosnian sports agent Enes Trnovcevic read a crazy story about Yusuf’s father in the newspaper and was fascinated: “Bosnian police officer Hariz Nurkic beat up 14 people in a fight.”
Trnovcevic knew immediately what to do. The next day he went to Tuzla and met with Nurkic’s father. The only thing he asked him was, “Do you have a son?”
Jusuf Nurkic was a 14-year-old boy at the time and had never played basketball. Enes Trnovcevic took him to Slovenia and gave him a chance, which he accepted and used.
Nurkic: “He looked at me and I was of normal height at the time, but he said: ‘The boy will come to the NBA. We all just laughed because it was crazy.”
At the time of the first meeting, young Nurkic didn’t know anything about basketball, he couldn’t throw or dribble well.
However, Nurkic was intrigued after meeting Trnovcevic, so he sought out a coach who would teach him all the basics. The rest is history. As we know today, Nurkic actually became a successful NBA player.
Sometimes all you need in life is a little luck – and a dad beating up 14 people at once.
Originally Posted by OpenCourt Basketball, NBA Star Was Spotted Because His Dad Once Beat Up 14 People At Once.
