Nick Nurse facts for kids
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Nurse at the Raptors championship parade in 2019
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| Philadelphia 76ers | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | July 24, 1967 Carroll, Iowa, U.S. |
| High school | Kuemper Catholic (Carroll, Iowa) |
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Career information | |
| College | Northern Iowa (1985–1989) |
| Pro career | 1990–1991 |
| Coaching career | 1989–present |
| League | NBA |
| 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 |
| Career highlights and awards | |
As head coach:
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Nicholas David Nurse (born July 24, 1967) is an American professional basketball coach. He used to play basketball too. Currently, he is the head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Before joining the 76ers, he was the head coach for the Toronto Raptors. He led them to an NBA championship in 2019. In 2020, he was named the NBA Coach of the Year. Nurse played college basketball for the Northern Iowa Panthers. He also played professional basketball for the Derby Rams in the British Basketball League.
Contents
Early Life and College Basketball
Nicholas David Nurse was born on July 24, 1967, in Carroll, Iowa. He went to Kuemper Catholic School System and was very good at basketball there.
Nurse played college basketball at the University of Northern Iowa from 1985 to 1989. He played in 111 games during his college career. He holds the school record for the best three-point shooting percentage, making 46.8% of his shots.
In his final year, during the 1989–90 season, Nurse worked as the only student assistant coach for Northern Iowa. He graduated from Northern Iowa in May 1990 with a degree in accounting.
Playing and Coaching Career Beginnings
Playing in England
Nurse became a player-coach for the Derby Rams in the British Basketball League during the 1990–91 season. After that season, Nurse decided to focus only on coaching and stopped playing professionally.
First Coaching Jobs
In 1991, Nurse got his first full-time head coaching job at Grand View University. He was only 23 years old, making him the youngest college basketball head coach in the country at that time. He coached at Grand View for two seasons.
After Grand View, Nurse worked as an assistant coach at the University of South Dakota for two seasons.
Coaching in Europe
Nurse spent 11 seasons coaching in Europe, mostly in the British Basketball League (BBL). He won two BBL championships as a head coach. He won with the Birmingham Bullets in 1996 and with the Manchester Giants in 2000. He also helped London Towers in the Euroleague.
Nurse was named the BBL Coach of the Year Award twice, in the 1999–2000 and 2003–04 seasons. He also coached for Telindus Oostende in Belgium in 1998. He was an assistant coach for the Oklahoma Storm in the United States Basketball League in 2001 and 2005.
Coaching in the NBA G League
Iowa Energy
In 2007, Nurse became the head coach for the Iowa Energy. This team was part of the NBA D-League, which is now called the NBA G League. The Energy won their division in the 2008–09 and 2009–10 seasons under Nurse.
Returning to the D-League
Nurse returned to coach the Iowa Energy in the 2010–11 season. He won the Dennis Johnson Coach of the Year Award after leading Iowa to the best record in the league (37–13). Nurse and the Energy then won the 2011 D-League championship.
Before the 2011–12 season, Nurse moved to coach another D-League team, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. In the 2012–13 season, the Vipers finished with a 35–15 record. They won the D-League finals by beating the Santa Cruz Warriors in two games.
During his six seasons coaching in the D-League, 23 players from Nurse's teams were called up to play in the NBA. This shows how well he helped players develop.
Coaching in the NBA
Toronto Raptors Assistant Coach
In July 2013, Nurse joined the Toronto Raptors as an assistant coach under head coach Dwane Casey. Nurse was in charge of the Raptors' offense. In the 2017–18 season, he helped change the team's offense to include more passing and three-point shots.
The improved offense helped the Raptors win a team-record 59 games that season. However, they lost in the playoffs, and Casey was later fired.
Toronto Raptors Head Coach
On June 14, 2018, the Raptors promoted Nurse to head coach. In his first season, he led the Raptors to a 58–24 record. The team was led by Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam. Siakam later won the NBA's Most Improved Player award.
On May 25, 2019, Nurse coached the Raptors to their first ever 2019 NBA Finals. They won the Eastern Conference Championship by defeating the Milwaukee Bucks. On June 13, Nurse became the first head coach to win both an NBA and an NBA D-League/G League championship. The Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, winning their first championship in team history.
In Nurse's second season, the Raptors finished with a 53–19 record, even though Leonard had left the team. Nurse was praised for his creative coaching that kept the Raptors playing at a high level. He was also a head coach for the Eastern Conference team in the 2020 NBA All-Star Game. On August 22, 2020, Nurse was named NBA Coach of the Year. However, the Raptors lost in the conference semifinals that year.
On September 15, 2020, Nurse signed a new contract with the Raptors. After a difficult 2020–21 season where the team played in Tampa Bay due to COVID-19, Nurse led them back to the playoffs in 2022.
On April 21, 2023, the Raptors decided to fire Nurse after the team missed the playoffs.
Philadelphia 76ers Head Coach
On June 1, 2023, the Philadelphia 76ers announced that they had hired Nurse as their new head coach. His past experience in planning defenses against their star player, Joel Embiid, was seen as a helpful skill.
Nurse's 76ers played against his former team, the Raptors, on October 28, winning 114–107. Even with injuries to key players like Embiid, Nurse guided the 76ers to a 47–35 record. They won a play-in tournament game against the Heat. As the seventh seed, they were eliminated in six games by the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.
Coaching National Teams
Nurse was an assistant coach for the Great Britain national team from 2009 to 2012. This included coaching in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
On June 24, 2019, Nurse was named the head coach of the Canadian men's national team. He coached them in the 2019 FIBA World Cup. On June 27, 2023, Nurse stepped down from his role as Canada's national team head coach.
Personal Life
Nurse is married to Roberta, and they have two sons.
In 2022, Nurse earned a Ph.D. in Sports Leadership from Concordia University Chicago.
Images for kids
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Nurse at the Raptors championship parade in 2019
See also
In Spanish: Nick Nurse para niños
