New Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse has been making himself at home in the City of Brotherly Love this summer. On Wednesday, August 30th, Nurse not only enjoyed a day game in his new city but also threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Phillies’ upcoming game against the Los Angeles Angels.
The Sixers hired Nurse, known for coaching the Toronto Raptors to their franchise’s first championship in 2019, as well as winning the 2020 Coach of the Year award in June of 2023 after firing Doc Rivers. Rivers, like Brett Brown before him, failed to coach the Sixers past the second round of the playoffs.
Nurse, an Iowa native, was a big culture guy in Toronto as well. A week after winning the 2019 NBA championship, he joined the Canadian band Arkells to cover Stevie Wonder’s ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered’ at their sold-out Toronto show.
In recent years, the Sixers and the Raptors have sparked up a bit of a rivalry, so Nurse definitely knows his stuff about Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, James Harden, and the rest of the gang. The Raptors fired Nurse in June 2023 after failing to make the playoffs; however, with a strong roster around him, Nick Nurse will definitely be able to coach the Sixers to victory.
