The Philadelphia 76ers recently fell short of their championship aspirations, losing in their second-round matchup to the Boston Celtics. This led to Doc Rivers getting fired. And now they are seemingly considering bringing in a former championship-winning coach to help the team live up to their potential.
Recently-fired Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse has had some great success in the NBA. However, the team’s recent struggles ultimately led to his surprise firing.
Nurse appears to now be a top candidate for the 76ers coaching gig.
According to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Nurse will be meeting with ownership and management in Philadelphia this coming week to potentially fill their head-coaching vacancy.
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
Many around the NBA world took to social media to offer their opinion on Nurse potentially landing this job in Philadelphia.
The Sixers would actually play perimeter defense under Nick Nurse.
Young players would actually get a shot under Nick Nurse.
Adjustments would be made under Nick Nurse.#BrotherlyLove #Sixers 🔵🔴
— RB (@RBPhillyTake) May 19, 2023
As much as I would love to see an absolute genius like him as the coach, I’m worried that Joel Embiid will request a trade.
— SixersKyle (@SixersKyle) May 19, 2023
The reality show is coming together nicely https://t.co/nYgsss9ThS
— Alexa Ross (@AlexaRossTV) May 19, 2023
No need for anyother interview https://t.co/DItzMKCwBx
— AJ Torres (@ajtorres1230) May 19, 2023
This episode of the Sixers reality TV show going crazy https://t.co/ECh73PQByi
— dhwani (@dhwanisaraiya_) May 19, 2023
Nurse coaching Embiid after the amount of trash talk exchanged would be PEAK television https://t.co/rAUsnbMVgm
— Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) May 19, 2023
It seems like a hire that would certainly make the 76ers much better on paper. Nurse coached five years for the Raptors and had a record of 227-163. However, it may not be a move that star center Joel Embiid would be all that excited about.
The 2022-23 MVP winner has a rocky relationship with Nurse, calling him out during a post-game interview earlier this postseason despite the Raptors not even being in the playoffs.
“I saw after the game last time, they (Nets) kind of took the Nick Nurse route of begging for free throws and calling out the referees. Then they come out and they got a lot of calls, which I guess is good for them.”
Raptors coach Nick Nurse caught a stray from Joel Embiid 😂
“I saw after the game last time, they (Nets) kind of took the Nick Nurse route of begging for free throws and calling out the referees. Then they come out and they got a lot of calls, which I guess is good for them." pic.twitter.com/xlCvITf7hq
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) April 18, 2023
The 76ers likely don’t want to upset Embiid after an already disappointing season by bringing in a coach that he is not a fan of. Unless Nurse or Embiid makes strides to repair that relationship, it could cause some big problems if he is indeed hired by Philadelphia.
