Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse did not say one way or the other on Thursday whether he plans to be back in his job next season while meeting with reporters following the team’s elimination from the play-in tournament.
Nurse addressed the media less than 24 hours after the team’s season-ending loss to the visiting Chicago Bulls.
“Listen, I love it here. We’ve built a really strong culture here … we all got to evaluate where we can get back to being a playoff team … and then getting to a level of winning it all, that’s what we get up and to work to do for the last 10 years,” Nurse said.
Nurse’s name was linked to the Houston Rockets’ job in a couple of published reports last month with former Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka being rumoured as a Raptors possibility. Then, he expanded on his future before a game in Philadelphia, saying he’d evaluate his future with the club after the season.
When pressed for more thoughts the next game, Nurse, who had one year left on his contract with the Raptors, refused to go further, saying he was concentrating on the current situation.
Nurse said Thursday he has a good relationship with Raptors president Masai Ujiri.
“The discussions are solid and open. He’s asking me about things and I’m asking him about things. I think we’re heading in the same direction,” Nurse said Thursday.
The Raptors did not meet expectations this season, finishing ninth in the East at 41-41.