Former Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse will meet with the Philadelphia 76ers ownership and management to discuss their open head coaching position, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
The 76ers fired head coach Doc Rivers Tuesday after a Round 2 playoff exit at the hands of the Boston Celtics.
Rivers led the 76ers to their second straight 50-win season behind NBA MVP Joel Embiid but again failed to lead them to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2001. The Sixers have not won an NBA championship since 1983.
The Raptors fired Nurse on April 21 following a disappointing home loss to the Chicago Bulls in the NBA's play-in tournament.
Nurse registered a 237-170 record as Raptors head coach, guiding the team to a championship title in the 2018-19 season, the first in franchise history.
If the 76ers do indeed choose to hire Nurse, he and Embiid might need to work on their chemistry, as the MVP has blasted Nurse in the media on multiple occasions in the past.
This post-season, after the 76ers took a 2-0 series lead on the Nets with a 96-84 win, Embiid said Brooklyn did the same thing as Nurse after Game 1 of the Philadelphia-Toronto first-round series last year — complain about the officiating.
“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,” Embiid said. “Then they come out and they got a lot of calls, which I guess is good for them.”
Maybe Embiid would change his tune if Nurse got him a few more foul calls...
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