The Philadelphia 76ers and Nick Nurse have reached an agreement for him to become their next head coach, according to a report Monday.
Nurse takes the reins from Doc Rivers, who was fired two weeks ago after the 76ers blew a 3-2 series lead and lost to the Boston Celtics in the second round of the playoffs. Rivers couldn’t get the team past the second round of the playoffs during his three seasons as the head coach.
Nurse, 55, was fired last month by the Toronto Raptors after five seasons as head coach. Nurse led the Raptors to the NBA title in 2019 and was selected as the NBA’s Coach of the Year in 2020. However, the Raptors failed to earn a playoff berth this season.
The 76ers are hoping Nurse can lead Joel Embiid, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, and James Harden to more playoff success and their first NBA title since 1983.
The 76ers’ move comes just days after former Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin was reportedly hired by the Milwaukee Bucks as their head coach. Griffin replaces Mike Budenholzer, who was fired earlier this month after the top-seeded Bucks’ stunning loss to the eighth-seeded Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs.
Griffin, 48, had been an assistant coach under Nurse for the past five seasons. Griffin has a previous connection with the Bucks. He was an assistant coach under coach Scott Skiles for two seasons from 2008-2010. Griffin played for the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls and Seattle SuperSonics during his nine seasons in the NBA.