Former Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse has reached an agreement to join the Philadelphia 76ers, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.
The Raptors fired Nurse on April 21 following a disappointing home loss to the Chicago Bulls in the NBA’s play-in tournament.
Wojnarowski also reports that both the 76ers and Suns were in discussions with Nurse and his agent, Andy Miller of Klutch Sports about a deal.
Nurse ultimately decided to join Philadelphia because of his desire to coach MVP Joel Embiid and his history with Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey from their time with the Houston Rockets.
Nurse registered a 237-170 record as Raptors head coach, guiding the team to a championship title in the 2018-19 season, the first in franchise history. The following season he was also named Coach of the Year.
The 76ers fired head coach Doc Rivers Tuesday after a Round 2 playoff exit at the hands of the Boston Celtics.
Rivers led the 76ers to their second straight 50-win season behind Embiid but again failed to lead them to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2001. The Sixers have not won an NBA championship since 1983.
With Nurse joining the 76ers, he and Embiid might need to work on their chemistry, as the MVP has blasted Nurse in the media on multiple occasions in the past.
This post-season, after the 76ers took a 2-0 series lead on the Nets with a 96-84 win, Embiid said Brooklyn did the same thing as Nurse after Game 1 of the Philadelphia-Toronto first-round series last year — complain about the officiating.
“I saw after the game last time, they (Nets) kind of took the Nick Nurse route of begging for free throws and calling out the referees,” Embiid said. “Then they come out and they got a lot of calls, which I guess is good for them.”
Maybe Embiid will change his tune if Nurse gets him a few more foul calls.
