The Philadelphia 76ers have agreed to a deal to hire former Toronto Raptors boss Nick Nurse as new head coach following the departure of Doc Rivers.
Rivers was fired after the Sixers lost their Eastern Conference semifinals against the Boston Celtics in seven games, despite leading them to a 54-win season and the third-best record in the league
On the other hand, Nurse, who led the Raptors to their first and only NBA title in 2019 when they defeated the Golden State Warriors, was fired by the Canadian side in April after they failed to make the playoffs due to their defeat to the Chicago Bulls in the Play-in tournament.
ESPN story on Nick Nurse agreeing to become the Philadelphia 76ers’ coach: https://t.co/07JV62Kich
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 29, 2023
The 55-year-old comes to the Sixers with a heap of experience and a great working relationship with team president Daryl Morey from their days in Houston.
He led the Raptors to a 41-41 win-loss record in the regular season and went 227-163 in his five seasons as coach in Toronto, where his winning percentage ranks as the best of any coach in the team’s history.
In Philadelphia, he will be teaming up with newly-crowned MVP Joel Embiid.
Nurse’s first point of action will be to convince 10-time NBA All-Star James Harden to re-sign with the Sixers, despite reports suggesting he could decline the $35.6 million option on his contract and become a free agent.
