Nick Nurse doesn’t seem to be straying too far from the Toronto Raptors.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, former Raptors coach Nurse has been hired by the Philadelphia 76ers as their new head coach.
ESPN Sources: Nick Nurse has reached an agreement to become the next Philadelphia 76ers coach. Nurse – who won an NBA championship and Coach of the Year honors with Toronto – will now coach 2023 MVP Joel Embiid. pic.twitter.com/SrsXhzx7Y3
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 29, 2023
Nurse was fired in April after five seasons as Raptors coach, replacing Doc Rivers, who was fired this spring after three seasons with the 76ers.
Nurse ended his tenure at Toronto with a 227-163 record and three playoff appearances in five seasons, along with the 2019 NBA Championship and 2019-20 NBA Coach of the Year honors.
He remains head coach of Canada’s senior national team and is expected to lead them at this year’s FIBA World Championship as well as the 2024 Summer Olympics should Canada qualify.
Oddly enough, Nurse comes full circle when he questioned his own future with the Raptors during a press conference in Philadelphia earlier this season.
“I think 10 years is a good time to sit back and think a little bit. I think we’ll do all that when the season is over,” Nurse told reporters in Philadelphia on March 31.
“Even personally, it will take me a few weeks to see where I am, where my head is, to see what the relationship is with the organization and so on. It’s been 10 years for me now, which is a pretty good progression.” .”
The 76ers and Raptors have already had two postseason encounters with Nurse on Toronto’s bench, with each team winning a series: Toronto in 2019 and Philadelphia in 2022.
Nurse has had public flings in the media with 76ers star and 2022-23 NBA MVP Joel Embiid, so it will be interesting to see how this relationship develops.
In last year’s playoff series, Embiid accused Nurse of “scolding” on fouls after Philadelphia’s Game 2 win over the Raptors.
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