76ers Rumors: Nick Nurse Becoming HC 'Starting to Bubble in League Coaching Circles'
Nick Nurse may be the front-runner to become the next head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.
NBA reporter Marc Stein wrote Monday that the "Nurse-to-Philadelphia chatter was certainly starting to bubble in league coaching circles" Sunday night.
Additionally, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia inquirer reported Sunday that "sources have said that reuniting with [Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey] is very much enticing to Nurse."
In 2011, when Morey was the Houston Rockets general manager, he hired Nurse to be the head coach of the team's G League affiliate Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
Following his time in the G League, Nurse spent five seasons as an assistant in Toronto before taking over as the team's head coach in the 2018-19 season, winning a title in his first year and reaching the postseason three times.
He went 227-163 overall as the head coach before being fired this offseason.
The 55-year-old has been one of the names consistently linked to the Sixers, joining former Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer; former Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans head coach Monty Williams; former Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic and Indiana head coach Frank Vogel; former Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike D'Antonio; and former NBA player and current Sixers assistant Sam Cassell.
The Sixers fired Doc Rivers this offseason after he failed to get the team past the second round of the playoffs for a third straight season. This year's MVP, Joel Embiid, has never made it past the second round, most famously losing to Nurse's Raptors on Kawhi Leonard's multi-bounce, buzzer-beating three in Game 7 of the 2018-19 Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Sixers have one of the most high-profile coaching vacancies remaining, alongside that of the Phoenix Suns. The Raptors and Detroit Pistons also have vacancies.
