Sixers

Sixers Reportedly Meeting with Nick Nurse

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: May 19th, 2023 · 9:31 AM EDT

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Via Keith at the Inquirer:

Former Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse is meeting with Sixers ownership and management this week coming up in regards to the vacant head-coaching position, according to league sources.

— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) May 19, 2023

#MeetingWithSixersOwnershipFlow

Nick Nurse seems to be higher on the arbitrary candidate lists that Sixers fans are putting together. He won a ring with Toronto in 2019, beating the Magic, Sixers, Bucks, and Warriors along the way.

The knock on Nurse is that he rode Kawhi (and Pascal Siakam) to a ring against a not-full-strength Golden State side, though the Raptors did go to seven games in the bubble against Boston without Leonard the following year. And in that title-winning campaign, Nurse pushed the right buttons and made the requisite adjustments. In the Sixers series, for example, he mixed things up by playing double bigs in the starting lineup, using Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka at the same time to give Toronto a way to combat Philly’s size. That was a pretty-evenly coached series, withNurse and Brett Brown reacting to each little tweak the other made.

Nurse is 55 years old but only got his first head coaching in the NBA in 2018, so he feels less re-treadish, which is not a word. He still has some fire for coaching I’d think, unlike the more veteran guys out there. Yes, he does have a bit of a history with Joel Embiid via some snippy quotes in the media, but if Andre Drummond can play with Joel, then Nurse can coach him. He’s a good defensive-minded guy and more hands-on than Doc Rivers, but let’s be honest, everybody is a little more hands-on than Doc was.

Nick Nurse and Joel Embiid is a good idea. pic.twitter.com/vhSLM7oPML

— CogginToboggan (@CogginToboggan) May 19, 2023