Philadelphia 76ers

Report: Nick Nurse to Meet With Sixers About Head Coaching Job

Report: Nurse to meet with Sixers about head coaching job originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said Wednesday that players will not have direct input on the team’s coaching search.

We imagine Nick Nurse’s history with Joel Embiid could come up, though. 

Nurse will “meet with 76ers ownership and management in the next week in regard to their vacant head coaching position,” The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey reported Thursday night.

Morey and the Sixers fired Doc Rivers two days after the team's blowout Round 2, Game 7 loss to the Celtics. Along with Nurse, Mike Budenholzer, Sam Cassell, Mike D’Antoni, Frank Vogel and Monty Williams are other known candidates for the job at this time.

Last April, Embiid and Nurse had an animated sideline discussion at the end of the Sixers’ Game 2 win over the Raptors in their first-round playoff matchup. Embiid praised Nurse postgame before offering a memorable comment about the coach's public criticisms of the officiating. 

“He’s a great coach, obviously … what he’s been able to accomplish. I’ve always been a big fan of him,” Embiid said. “But I told him, respectfully, to stop bitching about calls, because I saw what he said last game.

“If you’re going to triple team somebody, they’re bound to get to the free-throw line — or if you’re going to push them off, try to hold them off and all that stuff, they’re bound to get to the free-throw line. I feel like all the fouls were legit and there probably should’ve been more, honestly.” 

When the series shifted to Toronto, Embiid made a game-winning three-pointer with 0.8 seconds left in overtime. The Sixers dropped the next two contests but ultimately eliminated the Raptors in six games.

This year’s Toronto team could not return to the postseason, falling to the Bulls in the NBA’s play-in tournament. The Raptors fired Nurse after a five-season run highlighted by the franchise's first NBA title in the 2018-19 campaign. He went 227-163 during the regular season. 

Nurse is known as a creative, aggressive, adaptable coach. The former Northern Iowa guard had success in the British Basketball League, the D League, and a variety of other stops before ascending to the Raptors job.

Nurse’s teams were excellent at using their athletic, lengthy personnel to force turnovers and profit with transition points. The Raptors led the NBA in defensive turnover percentage the last three seasons, per Cleaning the Glass. They’ve recently struggled to score in the half court, though. Despite being a strong offensive rebounding team, Toronto ranked 25th in points per half-court play this season.

On top of his NBA championship, Nurse has a Coach of the Year award to his name for the 2019-2020 season. Budenholzer (2015 and 2019), D’Antoni (2005 and 2017) and Williams (2022) have that honor on their résumés as well. 

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