By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Nick Nurse left the Toronto Raptors after serving as the head coach for the last five years and as an assistant from 2013 to 2018.
His dismissal with one year left on his contract was confirmed by the Raptors Friday. Ime Udoka is expected to be a serious candidate to take over as the new head coach, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Nurse, 55, was promoted to head coach as the successor of Dwane Casey in 2018. In an impressive start, he won the NBA championship in 2019 and was named Coach of the Year in 2020. Over five seasons, he earned a 227-163 regular-season record and went 25-16 in the Playoffs, including brief postseason runs in 2020 and 2022.
The 2022-23 campaign saw Toronto clinch a berth in the Play-Ins of the Eastern Conference but dropping a game at home against the Chicago Bulls marked the end of the season. The Raptors previously missed the 2021 Playoffs under the guidance of Nurse.
Per the press release: “Toronto Raptors Vice-Chairman and President Masai Ujiri announced Friday that Nick Nurse has been relieved of his duties as the team’s head coach.
“The decision to make a change like this is never arrived at easily or taken lightly, especially when it comes to a person who has been an integral part of this franchise’s most historic accomplishments, and who has been a steady leader through some of the team’s most challenging times. As we reflect on Nick’s many successes, we thank him and his family, and wish them the best in the future,” Ujiri said.
“This is an opportunity for us to reset, to refocus, to put into place the personnel and the players who will help us reach our goal of winning our next championship.”
Nurse joined the Raptors organization in 2013 as an assistant coach before being named the ninth head coach in team history in June 2018. That first season, he guided Toronto to 58 wins, one shy of the franchise record, and became the ninth rookie head coach in NBA history to win the championship in their first year.
The following season, Nurse and his staff represented Toronto at the 2020 NBA All-Star Game in Chicago and finished the year with 53 victories. For his efforts, Nurse was named NBA Coach of the Year, an award presented to him while in the NBA’s “Bubble” in Orlando.
In five seasons (2018-23) at the helm of the Raptors, Nurse had the best winning percentage in team history with a 227-163 (.582) record, made three playoff appearances, won two Atlantic Division and one Eastern Conference title, and the 2019 NBA Championship.”
Besides guiding the lone Canadian NBA franchise, he has been the head coach of Canada’s senior national team since 2019 with his contract lasting through the 2024 Olympic Games.
Udoka, 45, has already been linked to the head-coaching vacancies of the Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets. The Raptors as another potential destination makes his return to the NBA seem even more likely. The former player has been sidelined since September and the exit from the Boston Celtics for violating team policies.
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