After the Milwaukee Bucks hired Adrian Griffin as their head coach Saturday, former Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse‘s connection to the Philadelphia 76ers is “starting to bubble in league coaching circles,” according to longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein.
Nurse reportedly withdrew from the Bucks' coaching search Saturday before Griffin, who was his assistant with the Raptors, was selected.
Nick Nurse is also a candidate for the Phoenix Suns‘ head-coaching position. It appears the Suns could choose him or associate head coach Kevin Young, who reportedly has the backing of key people within the organization.
Nurse is viewed as one of the hottest coaches on the market after the Raptors fired him in April. He led Toronto to an NBA championship in 2019 and was named the league's Coach of the Year in 2020, when the team went 53-19 after former forward Kawhi Leonard left to join the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency.
The 76ers fired coach Doc Rivers after they lost a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals to the Boston Celtics.
Philadelphia may lose star guard James Harden this offseason. Nick Nurse may coach a team that has this year's MVP, Joel Embiid.
This season, Nurse coached the Raptors to a 41-41 record. They finished with the No. 9 seed in the East and lost their play-in game to the Chicago Bulls.
According to a story by The Athletic, Nurse's relationships with the team had frayed this season. More players had issues with Nurse privately, the story said.
There was notably an incident in 2021 when Raptors forward Pascal Siakam had a verbal altercation with Nurse. Siakam was fined $50,000 for the incident.
Follow Us
Subscribe