Blazers' Jusuf Nurkic Stretchered Off After Suffering Gruesome Leg Injury

Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic was stretchered off during Monday's game against the Brooklyn Nets after he fell awkwardly to the floor and reportedly suffered a compound fracture that will require surgery, ending his season.

Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports noted the diagnosis after the contest.

Multiple NBA players were quick to offer their condolences for the Blazers big man:

Injuries have been an ongoing problem for Nurkic throughout his NBA career, though last season was an exception. The 24-year-old did appear in a career-high 79 games in 2017-18, his first time surpassing the 65-game mark in four NBA seasons.

Nurkic has been an essential piece of the Blazers' starting lineup since being acquired in a trade with the Denver Nuggets in February 2017. His 14.3 points per game last season ranked third on the team, and he led the team with nine rebounds per game.

So far in 2018-19, Nurkic has been healthy and ranks third on the Blazers with 15.6 points per game and is their leading rebounder at 10.4 per contest.

With Nurkic on the shelf for the rest of the year, Blazers head coach Terry Stotts can increase the minutes of second-year center Zach Collins.