The story goes that they found Jusuf Nurkic's dad first. Hariz Nurkic is a police officer in Bosnia and Herzegovina and, according to the Nuggets broadcast, stands at 7 feet tall and over 400 pounds, which is what's known in the biz as a Very Big Cop. Here's the tale from the Nurkic fan page:

Jusuf Nurkic's dad is a policeman in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. One day a Bosnian sports agent Enes Trnovcevic was reading a newspaper where he read: "Bosnian policeman, Hariz Nurkic has beaten 14 people in a fight." He knew what to do instantly! Next day he went to Tuzla and met with Nurkic's father. The only thing he asked him was: "Do you have a son?" Jusuf Nurkic was at that time a 14 years old boy and never trained basketball. Enes Trnovcevic took him to Slovenia and gave him an opportunity he accepted and used.

Jusuf has confirmed at least the gist of the story, and I'm inclined to believe the part about beating up 14 guys because if I say I don't believe it, I might get beat up, too.

The broadcast also said Wednesday night is the Nurkic family's first visit to the U.S. to watch their son play, and I hope they had as great a time watching him as the rest of us have this season. Nurkic has been one of the most productive, entertaining rookies in the whole NBA, and he's not scared of anyone:

Now we know where he got that from.

(via Altitude Sports)