![]() Nurse at the Raptors championship parade in 2019 | |
Philadelphia 76ers | |
---|---|
Position | Head coach |
League | NBA |
Personal information | |
Born | Carroll, Iowa, U.S. | July 24, 1967
Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
Career information | |
High school | Kuemper Catholic (Carroll, Iowa) |
College | Northern Iowa (1985–1989) |
Playing career | 1990–1991 |
Position | Point guard |
Number | 4 |
Coaching career | 1989–present |
Career history | |
As player: | |
1990–1991 | Derby Rams |
As coach: | |
1989–1990 | Northern Iowa (assistant) |
1990–1991 | Derby Rams (player-coach) |
1991–1993 | Grand View |
1993–1995 | South Dakota (assistant) |
1995–1997 | Birmingham Bullets |
1998 | Telindus Oostende |
1998–2000 | Manchester Giants |
2000–2001 | London Towers |
2001 | Oklahoma Storm (assistant) |
2001–2006 | Brighton Bears |
2005 | Oklahoma Storm (assistant) |
2007–2011 | Iowa Energy |
2011–2013 | Rio Grande Valley Vipers |
2013–2018 | Toronto Raptors (assistant) |
2018–2023 | Toronto Raptors |
2023–present | Philadelphia 76ers |
Career highlights and awards | |
As head coach:
| |
Nicholas David Nurse (born July 24, 1967) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously served as head coach for the Toronto Raptors, whom he led to an NBA championship in 2019 and with whom he was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 2020.
Nurse played college basketball for the Northern Iowa Panthers. He played professional basketball with the Derby Rams in the British Basketball League.
Nicholas David Nurse was born on July 24, 1967, in Carroll, Iowa. [1] [2] Nurse attended Kuemper Catholic School System, where he excelled in basketball.
Nurse played at the University of Northern Iowa from 1985 to 1989, appearing in 111 games. He is the school's all-time three-point percentage leader at .468 (170 of 363). [3] While playing at University of Northern Iowa, he was a teammate of current Division I college coach Greg McDermott. During their successful 1989–90 season, Nurse was the sole student assistant coach for Northern Iowa in his final year with the team. Nurse graduated from Northern Iowa in May 1990 with a B.A. in accounting. [1]
Nurse became a player-coach for the Derby Rams in the British Basketball League during the 1990–91 season; following the 1990–91 season, Nurse never played professionally again, opting to pursue a full-time coaching career. [4]
During their successful 1989–90 season, Nurse was the sole student assistant coach for Northern Iowa in his final year with the team.
In 1991, Nurse got his first full-time head coaching job at Grand View University when he was only 23 years old; at the time, he was the youngest college basketball head coach in the country. [5] He coached at Grand View for two seasons.
Nurse was an assistant coaching role at the University of South Dakota for two seasons.
Nurse later spent 11 seasons coaching in Europe, mostly in the British Basketball League (BBL). [5] During that time, he won two BBL championships as a head coach, one with the Birmingham Bullets in 1996 and one with the Manchester Giants in 2000, while also helping London Towers in the Euroleague. [6] Nurse also won the BBL Coach of the Year Award in the 1999–2000 and 2003–04 seasons. [7] He also coached for the Telindus Oostende of the Ethias League in 1998, as well as became an assistant coach for the Oklahoma Storm of the United States Basketball League in both 2001 and 2005.
In 2007, Nurse accepted the head coaching job for the Iowa Energy, who were preparing for their first season in the NBA D-League (now called the NBA G League). [8] The Energy won division titles under Nurse in the 2008–09 and 2009–10 seasons.
After three seasons with the Energy, Nurse agreed to join the coaching staff of the Iowa State Cyclones as an associate head coach in April 2010. [7] Four days after Nurse's hiring was announced on April 22, Greg McDermott left to become the head coach at Creighton. Nurse was not offered a spot on the new staff, but received $175,000 in a settlement for his four days as an assistant. [9]
Nurse immediately returned to his former position as head coach with the Energy. [10] [11] In the 2010–11 NBA D-League season, Nurse received the Dennis Johnson Coach of the Year Award after helping Iowa achieve the best record in the league (37–13). [12] Nurse and the Energy then went on to win the 2011 D-League championship. [13] Nurse joined Joey Meyer as the only NBA G League coaches to win multiple championships.
Before the 2011–12 season, Nurse left the Energy for the D-League's Rio Grande Valley Vipers. [14] [15] In the 2012–13 season, the Vipers finished with a record of 35–15 and won the D-League finals in a two-game sweep of the Santa Cruz Warriors. [16]
During his six seasons coaching in the D-League, Nurse had 23 players on his rosters called up to the NBA. [17]
In July 2013, Nurse departed the Vipers for an assistant job on the coaching staff of the Toronto Raptors under Dwane Casey. [18] He was in charge of the offense during his time under Casey, [17] [19] and in the 2017–18 season he was credited for changes to the Raptors' offensive game plan which included increases in passing and three-point attempts. [20] [21] [22] The improved offense helped the Raptors win a franchise-record 59 games, but the team was swept in the second round of the 2018 NBA playoffs by the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Casey was fired shortly thereafter. [23]
On June 14, 2018, the Raptors promoted Nurse to the position of head coach to succeed Casey. [24] In his first season, he guided the Raptors to a 58–24 record, led by offseason acquisition (and eventual Finals MVP) Kawhi Leonard and emerging star Pascal Siakam, who would go on to win the NBA's Most Improved Player award. [25] On May 25, 2019, Nurse coached the Raptors to the 2019 NBA Finals, the first for the franchise, after taking the Eastern Conference Championship by defeating the Milwaukee Bucks in six games. [26] On June 13, Nurse became the first head coach to win both the NBA and NBA D-League/G League titles, [27] when the Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors in game 6 of the NBA Finals, winning the Raptors their first championship in franchise history. [28]
In Nurse's second season, the Raptors finished with a 53–19 record, despite losing Leonard to free agency, in a season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic. [29] He was widely praised for his creativity and innovation in ensuring that the Raptors were able to maintain a high level of play despite losing Leonard. [30] [31] That season, Nurse qualified to be a head coach in the 2020 NBA All-Star Game as the Eastern Conference representative. [32] On August 22, 2020, Nurse was named NBA Coach of the Year. [33] However, the Raptors were unable to repeat their playoff success of the previous season, and were eliminated in the conference semifinals, losing in 7 games at the hands of the Boston Celtics. [34]
On September 15, 2020, the Raptors announced that Nurse had signed a multi-year contract extension. [35] After an unsuccessful 2020–21 season in which the Raptors played in Tampa Bay due to COVID-19, Nurse guided the team to 48 wins and a return to the playoffs in 2022.
On April 21, 2023, the Raptors announced that they had fired Nurse, after the team failed to make the playoffs due to their loss to the Chicago Bulls in the Play-in Tournament. [36]
![]() | This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: Does not mention any events in the 2023 season.(March 2024) |
On June 1, 2023, the Philadelphia 76ers announced that Nurse had been hired as their head coach. [37] His experience game-planning defensively against their reigning MVP center Joel Embiid in the past was considered helpful perspective, namely to help strategize for Embiid to succeed in playoff situations. [38] [39]
Nurse and the 76ers topped the Raptors 114-107 in his return to Toronto as an opposing coach on October 28th. [40] Despite injuries to Embiid and other players throughout the season, Nurse was able to secure a 47-35 record and a play-in tournament victory for the Sixers against the eight-seeded Heat. As the seven seed, they were eliminated in six games by the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.
Nurse was an assistant coach under Chris Finch, for the Great Britain national team from 2009 to 2012, including the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
On June 24, 2019, Nurse was named the head coach of the Canadian men's national team for the 2019 FIBA World Cup and beyond. [41] [42] On June 27, 2023, Nurse resigned from his role as national team head coach. [43]
Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Toronto | 2018–19 | 82 | 58 | 24 | .707 | 1st in Atlantic | 24 | 16 | 8 | .667 | Won NBA Championship |
Toronto | 2019–20 | 72 | 53 | 19 | .736 | 1st in Atlantic | 11 | 7 | 4 | .636 | Lost in Conference semifinals |
Toronto | 2020–21 | 72 | 27 | 45 | .375 | 5th in Atlantic | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
Toronto | 2021–22 | 82 | 48 | 34 | .585 | 3rd in Atlantic | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | Lost in First round |
Toronto | 2022–23 | 82 | 41 | 41 | .500 | 5th in Atlantic | — | — | — | — | Missed playoffs |
Philadelphia | 2023–24 | 82 | 47 | 35 | .573 | 3rd in Atlantic | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | Lost in First round |
Career | 472 | 274 | 198 | .581 | 47 | 27 | 20 | .574 |
Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Tournament | TG | TW | TL | TW–L% | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Canada | 2019 | 13 | 6 | 7 | .462 | World Cup | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | 21st place |
Canada | 2021 | 3 | 2 | 1 | .667 | Olympics | — | — | — | — | Did not qualify |
Career | 16 | 8 | 8 | .500 | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 |
Nurse and his wife, Roberta, have two sons, Leo and Rocky Levi. [44] He also has a nephew named David, who previously worked with the Brooklyn Nets before becoming a personal trainer for professional players. [45]
In December 2018, Nurse's mother Marcella died. [46]
Nurse is a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan and was a guest conductor of the seventh-inning stretch at Wrigley Field in 2019, singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." [47]
On June 20, 2019, Nurse joined Hamilton-based rock band Arkells at their sold-out Toronto concert to perform a cover of Stevie Wonder's hit song "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" on guitar. [48] [49]
In May 2022, after completing his dissertation and comprehensive exam, Nurse graduated from Concordia University Chicago with a Ph.D. in Sports Leadership. [50] [51] [52]
Nurse is a big fan of the musician Prince, and was the master of ceremonies at a performance by the New Power Generation in Toronto on July 26, 2022.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2022 | Murdoch Mysteries | Locker room attendant | Episode: "It's a Wonderful Game" |
2023 | Pretty Hard Cases | Officer Nick |
The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Scotiabank Arena, which it shares with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team was founded in 1995 as part of the NBA's expansion into Canada, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies. Since the 2001–02 season, the Raptors have been the only Canadian-based team in the league, as the Grizzlies relocated from Vancouver to Memphis, Tennessee.
Jerry Darnell Stackhouse is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the assistant coach of the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association. Stackhouse played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels and played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was a two-time NBA All-Star. He was the head coach of Raptors 905 and an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors and Memphis Grizzlies. Additionally, he has worked as an NBA TV analyst.
Dwane Lyndon Casey is an American basketball coach who most recently served as the head coach of the Detroit Pistons before transitioning to a front office position with the team. He is a former NCAA basketball player and coach, having played and coached there for over a decade before moving on to the NBA. He was previously the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Toronto Raptors, with whom he won the NBA Coach of the Year Award in 2018.
Amir Jalla Johnson is an American former professional basketball player and coach who last served as an assistant coach for the NBA G League Ignite of the NBA G League. He has previously played for the Detroit Pistons, the team that selected Johnson in the second round of the 2005 NBA draft, as well as the Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers.
Bryan Paul Colangelo is an American basketball executive who was the former general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors and Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also served as president of basketball operations for Philadelphia and Toronto. He is the son of Phoenix sports mogul Jerry Colangelo. He graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science degree in business management and applied economics. He was the 2005 and 2007 recipient of the NBA Executive of the Year Award.
Fabulous Flournoy is a former professional basketball player who is currently an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was previously the player-coach for the Newcastle Eagles, who compete in the British Basketball League.
The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won four league titles in 2010, 2013, 2019, and 2022, the most for any club in league history, and they also have made the most championship series in league history, having made it seven times to the finals. They are also the earliest champion to still play in their original city along with one of only three teams to have played in every league season since 2007. The Vipers entered a single-partnership affiliation agreement with the Houston Rockets during the 2009–10 season. Previously, they were affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2007–08 season and the New Orleans Hornets from 2007 to 2009.
Chris Finch is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was previously an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Pelicans, and Toronto Raptors.
Daniel Richard Green is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In his NBA career, Green has played for six teams. As of 2020, Green is one of just four players in history to have won NBA championships with three different teams; he won titles with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014, the Toronto Raptors in 2019, and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.
Kevin Young is an American basketball coach and former player who is head coach of the Brigham Young University (BYU) men's basketball team. Young has held various coaching roles at the professional, minor league, and collegiate levels in the United States and in other countries. Immediately prior to joining the Cougars, Young was associate head coach for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Joel Hans Embiid is a Cameroonian-American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After one year of college basketball with the Kansas Jayhawks, he was drafted third overall by the 76ers in the 2014 NBA draft. The 7-foot (2.1 m) Embiid is a seven-time NBA All-Star, a five-time member of the All-NBA Team, a three-time member of the All-Defensive Team, and a two- time NBA scoring champion. He was named the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2023.
Jama Mahlalela is a Swazi-Canadian basketball coach, currently an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Previously he has served as the head coach of Raptors 905 of the NBA G League and an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors.
The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Mississauga, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fine Foods Centre, replacing the Centre's former basketball tenant, the Mississauga Power of the National Basketball League of Canada. The team regularly plays approximately 2 to 4 home games at the Scotiabank Arena, the home of their parent club, the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors 905 is the eighth NBA G League team to be owned by an NBA team and the first NBA G League team to be located outside of the United States.
DaRico Travone Hines is an American basketball coach who is an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball with the UCLA Bruins.
Nate Bjorkgren is an American basketball coach who is an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the University of South Dakota and Buena Vista University. He was previously an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns from 2015 to 2017 and the Toronto Raptors from 2018 to 2020. He was the head coach of the Indiana Pacers for the 2020-2021 season.
Dewan Antonio Hernandez is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Miami Hurricanes, and played six games for the Toronto Raptors in the NBA.
The 2018–19 Toronto Raptors season was the 24th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). During the off-season, the Raptors acquired small forward Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs after trading franchise star DeMar DeRozan. The season ended with the franchise's first NBA Finals appearance and first NBA championship, ending the City of Toronto's 26-year championship drought if not counting Toronto FC’s 2017 MLS championship or Toronto Argonauts multiple Grey Cup Championships. The Raptors were one of two teams to have an offense and defensive rating that both ranked in the top 5 of the NBA.
The 2019–20 Toronto Raptors season was the 25th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Raptors entered the season for the first time in franchise history as the defending NBA champions, following their NBA Finals win over the previous two-time NBA champion Golden State Warriors in six games. The Raptors had the second best team defensive rating in the NBA.
The 2021–22 Toronto Raptors season was the 27th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA).