The Philadelphia 76ers had a big Memorial Day weekend, hiring Nick Nurse as head coach.
Nurse was among the big names on the coaching market along with Mike Budenholzer, Mike D’Antoni, Frank Vogel and Monty Williams. In hiring Nurse, the Sixers got a coach with a NBA title on his resume, but what else is there to know about him.
NEW COACH:Philadelphia 76ers hire former Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, reports say
Where did Nick Nurse start his career?
Nurse, 55, played college basketball at Northern Iowa where he was a teammate of Creighton University head basketball coach Greg McDermott. He started his coaching career there as an assistant. After being player-coach of the Derby Storm in the British Basketball League for one season he was named head coach at Grand View University when he was just 23.
Where else did Nick Nurse coach?
- He coached two season at South Dakota,
- Returned to Great Britain where he coached the Birmingham Bullets (1995-96), Manchester Giants (1998-2000), London Towers (2000-01) and Brighton Bears (2000-06). He won two BLL championships in 1996 and 2000, and was named Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2003.
- Gained coaching experience in Italy, Belgium, the USBL and served as an assistant coach for the British National Team during the 2012 Olympics in London.
- Nurse spent six seasons in the NBA G League as head coach for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (2011-13) and the Iowa Energy (2007-11). He compiled a regular-season record of 183-117 (.610). He is the only coach to lead two different teams to an NBA G League Championship.
- While coaching the Rio Grande Vipers, he worked with Sixers President Daryl Morey, who was general manager of the Houston Rockets – the parent club of the Vipers.
What has Nick Nurse done in the NBA?
- Nurse has been an NBA coach for 10 seasons — five as an assistant — with the Toronto Raptors.
- He has a 227-163 (.582) regular season record and 25-16 (.610) in the postseason.
- He led the Raptors to the playoffs three times, including his first season in 2019
- In 2019, he guided Toronto to the NBA title.
- He was named NBA Coach of the Year in 2020.
- He was fired by the Raptors in April after the Raptors missed the playoffs with a 41-41 record.
Nick Nurse’s playoff experience against the Sixers
In 2022, the Raptors and Sixers battled in an opening-round series with Philadelphia winning the best-of-7 series 4-2. The heated series led to Joel Embiid commenting on Nurse:
In 2019, Nurse’s Raptors eliminated the 76ers in a seven-game Eastern Conference semifinal series. The 76ers lost when Kawhi Leonard hit a ridiculous game-winning jumper in Game 7.
Is Nick Nurse married?
Yes, Nurse and his wife Roberta have two sons — Leo and Rocky Levi.
Did the Sixers hire a doctor as their coach?
Nurse has a PH.D from Concordia University in Chicago in Sports leadership.
Is Nick Nurse a Phillies fan?
Maybe he is now, but Nurse is actually a Chicago Cubs fan and sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch at Wrigley Field in 2019.
