Jusuf Nurkiu0107 got the terrible news as Trail Blazers’ team bus made its way from the Yacht Club Hotel to the The Field House on the ESPN Wide World of Sports campus for Saturday’s Western Conference Play-In versus the Memphis Grizzlies. After struggling for weeks with COVID-19, Nurkiu0107’s grandmother, Hana, had succumbed to the virus.
The 7-0 center had contemplated leaving Orlando to be by her side when he first heard a few weeks ago that she was fighting the virus from a hospital bed in Bosnia & Herzegovina. And upon receiving the news that her fight was over, he questioned whether it was right for him to suit up and play.