76ers Rumors: Nick Nurse to Interview for Head Coach Opening After Doc Rivers Firing

The Philadelphia 76ers are considering replacing Doc Rivers with another former NBA champion coach.

Nick Nurse, who led the Toronto Raptors to a title in 2019, is meeting with 76ers management this week, per Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Philadelphia fired Rivers on Tuesday morning after the Sixers' 112-88 Game 7 loss to the Celtics last weekend.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on NBA Countdown Thursday night that Nurse, who was let go by Toronto on April 21, is also a candidate for head coaching openings with the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks.

Despite the coach's work in leading Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors to the franchise's first title in 2019, team president Masai Ujiri was unhappy with Nurse's recent work in Toronto's player development, per Sportsnet's Michael Grange.

In the past three seasons, Toronto only qualified for the 2022 playoffs, from which they were bounced in the first round.

Nurse finished his time in Toronto with a 227-163 regular-season record, a 25-16 slate in the playoffs, and a 2020 Coach of the Year award. He had one year and $8 million-plus left on his deal with the Raptors, Wojnarowski reported.

He is now one of several veteran head coaches to hit the open market this offseason. That list includes Mike Budenholzer, Monty Williams, Frank Vogel, and Mike D'Antoni, all of whom are reportedly included in the 76ers' search, per Wojnarowski.

Philadephia, a team that has not advanced to the conference finals since 2001, hired Doc Rivers in 2020 with the hope that the playoff veteran would be the one to finally help Joel Embiid and the Sixers over the second-round hurdle. The team was so confident in Rivers that they signed him to a deal three days after he was let go by the Los Angeles Clippers.

It turned out Rivers, who has not won an NBA championship since 2008, was not the answer to Philadelphia's postseason struggles. Now they will hope to find that solution in another coach with playoff experience, like Nurse.