“This Will Never Seem Normal”: Seeing Damian Lillard And CJ McCollum On The Bucks And Pelicans Has Jusuf Nurkic Feeling Emotional

Despite technically only doing their job, NBA players too tend to form deep bonds and relationships with the people they share the court with. And even though getting traded or waived is just another aspect of being part of the league, that does not mean seeing your teammates leave doesn’t make it beyond difficult. Therefore, Jusuf Nurkic’s latest tweet on X(Formerly Twitter) not only makes sense but may also induce a tear or two amongst certain fans.

Jusuf Nurkic had a simple but emotional reaction to seeing his two former teammates on different teams, going head-to-head against one another as the Milwaukee Bucks hosted the New Orleans Pelicans in their latest matchup.

Along with Jusuf Nurkic, fans also got to see former teammates Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum link up and then battle it out on the floor. Though Nurkic only used an emoji to describe his emotional state, the original tweet’s caption read, “This will never seem normal.”

 

https://t.co/J26OpCJqlC

— Jusuf Nurkić (@bosnianbeast27) January 28, 2024

After the departure of LaMarcus Aldridge, Damian Lillard was given the keys to the Portland Trail Blazers. Within a year, Lillard found the perfect partner in CJ McCollum to form a deadly one-two combo in the Western Conference.

Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum played together for a total of nine years. And the two even made it to the playoffs eight times out of those nine years. Dame and CJ also had Nurkic who was traded from the Denver Nuggets in 2017 and shared five trips to the playoffs with him.

Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, and Jusuf Nurkic all spent crucial years together while playing for the Portland Trail Blazers in the hopes of bringing home an NBA championship. Unfortunately, the Blazers never made it past the Western Conference Finals during that time.

However, the players went on to form deep bonds that run true to this day as Nurkic reminisces those good old days with both Lillard and McCollum by his side and on the same team. Given the ups and downs these three have gone through together, one cannot help but feel for Nurkic, especially given that he felt worked up enough to post about it on social media.

Damian Lillard’s relationship with CJ and Nurk

While playing for the Portland Trail Blazers, Damian Lillard’s partnership with CJ McCollum was often highlighted by their on-court plays and their chemistry on the floor. However, both Lillard and McCollum were quite close off the court as well.

Last year, Damian Lillard made an appearance on The Draymond Green Show. Lillard extensively spoke on his relationship with CJ McCollum. Dame also touched on how he felt when McCollum got traded and went on to join the New Orleans Pelicans.

It wasn’t just CJ McCollum that Lillard was close to. He also shared a special relationship with Jusuf Nurkic during his tenure with Portland. Here is Lillard having his teammate’s back in an old interview.

Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum created a deadly two-man scoring rampage in Portland. But now looking back at it, the Blazers lost the McCollum trade that eventually forced them to hit the reset button. Had the Blazers not been hasty, they could’ve added a third star around their two guards back then and gone all in on that core.

Alas, this scenario will also go down in the ‘What could’ve been’ discussions eventually in the future.