Jusuf Nurkić raves about support and opportunity with Utah Jazz

Keyonte George got super excited as soon as he found out the Utah Jazz were getting Jusuf Nurkić via trade back in June.

Nurkić’s history of playing alongside guys like Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and Devin Booker had George thinking about all the possibilities.

“He’s played with high-caliber guards and he’s got them open, he’s made their life a lot easier,” George said. “Nurk just makes the game so easy for me ... he makes the guy that’s guarding me disappear, honestly. And there’s plenty of times where I’ve told him to roll and he’s just told me to shoot. I mean, the most unselfish thing you can do is screen and he’s done it at a high level for a very long time.”

For Nurkić, he didn’t know what to expect coming to Utah. But he feels like he’s found a weirdly well-kept NBA secret.

“I felt like it’s been under the radar the whole time I’ve been in the league,” Nurkić said. “You never hear, obviously, bad things, but it’s not like everybody is talking about how good of an organization it is ... Me and Kevin (Love) talk every day to the young guys that we have a such a great thing here. (They) don’t understand how it is somewhere else ... This is such a great environment, and you have everything you need to succeed.”

It’s something that Love has mentioned as well, pointing out how invested the Jazz coaching staff, front office and even ownership are in the development of players and how much time they make to have face time and real conversations with everyone on the roster.

But it’s not just about the organizational support and the attention to detail that the team takes in making life easy for the players. Nurkić was intentional with pointing to how much he’s felt supported by Jazz head coach Will Hardy.

Nurkić has famously not had a problem sounding off when he feels like he’s in a less-than-desirable situation (to put it mildly), even going as far as saying that he and former Phoenix Suns coach Mike Budenholzer “don’t have a relationship” when he was playing in Phoenix.

And he didn’t have huge on-court expectations when he first got to Utah, with Walker Kessler being the starting center.

But even in those early games coming off the bench, Nurkić felt like he was getting more trust and more encouragement than he’s felt in 11 years in the NBA.

“I can’t really stress enough how patient he was with me,” Nurkić said. “Through my whole career, I didn’t have a coach like that. I’ve been in some rough spots through my career, but never had that support like he does for me.”

The support has come through small actions, like Hardy telling Nurkić to trust himself and not worry about small mistakes, trusting Nurkić to help teach the younger players timing and angles, knowing that Nurkić’s value to the greater goals of the Jazz — development of young players and having a physical presence on the court — is more important than a few mistakes.

It’s an easy spot for Hardy to be in, because those acts of support come naturally for someone who is so appreciative of what Nurkić has provided the Jazz, especially during the absence of Kessler.

“Nurk helps us create an advantage in a way that no one else does,” Hardy said. “His screening, his ability to get his teammates open — and I think he’s done a better job of rolling and making himself available, but more than that, his teammates have rewarded him ... But his physicality in general, his screening, rebounding, is unique in our league. Like, he’s in a category almost all by himself, in terms of the way that he can help you create advantage."

That understanding of Nurkić’s game and the confidence in his abilities has loosened him up through these first couple of months of the NBA season. As Hardy shows confidence in Nurkić, Nurkić has shown the same care and support to his young teammates — especially George.

There were early-season struggles with the two, figuring out the timing and how the other moved when they were playing in dribble-handoffs or in pick-and-roll. But they’ve gotten to a place where things are starting to feel more natural.

“Every single time, no matter if I make a mistake or not, he’s always talking to me,” George said. “Nurk just continues to empower me when it comes to us playing the two-man game.”

On Tuesday, in a loss to the Boston Celtics, the two found each other over and over on the offensive end. George ended up with a game-high 37 points, along with seven assists and six rebounds. Nurkić finished the night with 26 points, eight assists and eight rebounds.

Six of Nurkić’s assists were on made shots by George, and four of George’s assists went to Nurkić.

“It took us a little bit, especially with Keyonte, to figure out that they can get back doors and great screens,” Nurkić said. “The vision is getting better and better. I do believe we can still get better, but he’s just making right play.”