Jusuf Nurkic on his activism: “NBA is a super bridge. Giving back for me is important”

The NBPA, in collaboration with SDA Bocconi School of Management, this week launched the One Court Milan experience, designed as a platform for players to network and learn from founders, creators, and C-suite executives of global luxury brands. Alongside the One Court Milan experience, the NBPA Foundation hosted its third More Than a Game youth leadership program that explores the convergence of basketball and social impact. Through this program, the NBPA Foundation engaged players and 20 co-ed youth from the TamTam Basketball Academy based in Castel Volturno, a youth basketball program that supports children born and raised in Italy to immigrant parents.

Across the NBA players participating in “More Than a Game” there was Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic: “I think it’s just great to have experiences like these, working with kids in need who have real problem in life, growing up here without getting citizenship before turning 18”, he said in a exclusive interview with Sportando. “I think that’s gotta be changeable, those kids are born here and are living here. There should be laws addressing this situation, Giannis and his brothers had a similar situation in Greece so is not something only related to Italy. I think this has to change, and I love that the NBA and the NBPA bring the attention also to this kind of stuff, it’s really important”.

Bosnian center later addressed the importance, for him, of giving back: “That’s who I am, who I’ve been through all my life. My foundation stands for the kids and the women in need, people who starves for the food, I do a lot of those things and I try to be loud about it to encourage others to do the same thing”.

Finally, Nurkic had some words about the role that the NBA plays in the world: “The NBA is really global. Looking just at these kids I thought that I started playing basketball at 14, and never had the chance to meet NBA players as a teenager growing up. It’s just amazing and it’s also important for the community: any city which hosts these kind of events should be proud, in playing a role in building bridges between communities. In moving forward. The NBA is really a super bridge. When you look at it that way, seeing the kids walking in the streets recognizing NBA players walking around it’s inspiring. It’s huge for the country thinking that they have a NBA player that grew up near their home, it speaks for itself and for all communities”.