An NBA head coach and former Harvard professor walk into a bar.
No punchline here but, on a cold, rainy evening in a pub just 20 minutes outside of Boston, Raptors coach Nick Nurse joins his former Harvard professor Charlie Sawyer and his band on stage.
Sawyer taught Nurse in 2008 through the online portion of his Harvard class ‘History of Blues in America’. At the time, Nurse was the head coach of the Iowa Energy in the NBA’s D-League (now G-League). The two stayed friends over the years and discuss their love of music, including legendary Blues Icon B.B. King who Sawyer knew personally. He just released the book B.B. King: From Indianola to Icon: A Personal Odyssey with the “King of the Blues”.
Nurse contributed to the book, touching on his friendship with Charlie and how it changed his music life. To help celebrate the release, Nurse joined Sawyer and his band 2120 South Michigan Avenue on stage the night before the team’s pre-season game vs. the Celtics in Boston last week.
The venue was packed and cheering on Nurse and Charlie from the back were members of Toronto’s coaching staff: Nate Bjorkgren, John Corbacio and Fabulous Flournoy.
“I don’t play with bands very often,” Nurse said. “This moment is a big one for me. I always hoped I would get to play with 2120 South Michigan Avenue someday and here we are.”
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CityNews sports reporter Lindsay Dunn was there for the performance and spoke to Nurse and Sawyer. Here’s the exclusive video and interview below.
The Raptors wrap up their pre-season schedule with another matchup against the Celtics Friday night in Montreal.
