Jusuf Nurkic Enters Suns’ History Books
Nurk is immortalized in history books, joining the ranks of Kevin Love, Tyson Chandler and Paul Silas.
On Sunday, Jusuf Nurkic might have become the Phoenix Suns’ All-Time best rebounder.
He recorded a career and franchise-high in rebounds, ripping down 31 boards in a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
After the game, Suns’ Head Coach, Frank Vogel, praised his player’s defensive prowess.
Via ESPN:
“Incredible,” Vogel said of Nurkic. “The loss aside, you just look at a 31-rebound night, at any point in the NBA history, [it] is just an incredible performance. The best in Phoenix Suns history. He is a beast on the defensive end of the court.”
He also contributed 14 points and 4 assists.
However, it wasn’t enough to take down the Thunder, who took the game 118–110 behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s near triple-double performance of 35 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds.
Nurkic commented on his record at the post-game scrum, saying it’s awesome, but a win would’ve been better.
“I saw, on the screen, that I had 28,” Nurkic said, when asked if he knew, during the game, he was on his way to history. “But it doesn’t really matter. I mean, it’s great, but we lost the game.”
Nurkic is the first player to grab 30 or more rebounds since Kevin Love, who was with the Minnesota Timberwolves, logged 31 rebounds (and 31 points) in a win against the New York Knicks back in 2010.
“The Bosnian Beast” joined the Suns at the beginning of this season and has been staking his claim as the best rebounder in franchise history.
In 57 games, he has grabbed 15 or more rebounds multiple times.
The previous single-game rebound leaders were Paul Silas (1971) and Tyson Chandler (2016), who each recorded 27.
Nurkic is currently averaging 10.7 rebounds per game.
