Get to know Sixers coach Nick Nurse, from those who covered him with the Toronto Raptors

Nick Nurse has not yet been formally introduced — or announced — as the next 76ers coach, after formally agreeing to take the job on Monday. Still, there is already plenty of intrigue swirling about the impact he can make on a team that boasts a win-now roster anchored by NBA Most Valuable Player in Joel Embiid, one that has repeatedly come up short in the playoffs.

For insight on a variety of Nurse-related topics, The Inquirer turned to three reporters who closely covered his tenure leading the Toronto Raptors: Michael Grange of Sportsnet, Josh Lewenberg of TSN and Doug Smith of the Toronto Star.

1. What was your first reaction to the Sixers hiring Nurse? At first glance, does this feel like a fit for both sides?

Michael Grange: I wasn’t surprised from Nurse’s side. I thought the Daryl Morey connection made too much sense, and the opportunity to coach a talent like Embiid would be incredibly appealing. From the Sixers’ point of view, the Raptors’ successes against Embiid and the team generally — even in losing efforts, at times — would provide instant credibility for Nurse as a potential (and eventual) hire.

» READ MORE: Nick Nurse has a developmental mindset. What does that mean for Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and the Sixers? | David Murphy

Josh Lewenberg: Initially, it was a bit of a surprise. Not that it’s a bad fit, but given that he was in the running for three high-profile jobs, it seemed folks thought Milwaukee or Phoenix were either more likely or perhaps better fits. The Sixers feature a far more traditional roster than Nurse had in Toronto — and one that probably isn’t conducive to his preferred, ultra-aggressive style of play, especially on the defensive end. Of course, he also has a well-documented history with the team’s best player.

Dig a little deeper, though, and you can see the appeal for both sides. There’s a familiarity between Nurse and Morey from their time working together in the Rockets organization. Nurse has experience taking an underachieving, veteran-laden team and getting them over the hump. And assuming they’ve squashed their beef — and it’s hard to imagine Philly makes this hire if they haven’t — it shouldn’t take long for him and Embiid to find common ground and bring out the best in each other. After years of game-planning for him — often without a real center of his own — I’m sure Nurse is looking forward to having the league’s most dominant force at his disposal.

Doug Smith: How Nurse and Embiid would coexist after all the gamesmanship that’s gone on between them before. Thought it was a logical fit in that the Sixers probably needed a veteran coach, but thought that dynamic would be odd.

2. Nurse is known for his tactical creativity. What are some of your favorite examples of that during his time leading the Raptors? And what most piques your interest about what he could potentially unlock or try with this Sixers roster?

MG: I think what stands out to me is whatever approach he settles on, tactically, he goes for it — and often succeeds. He’ll sell out to shut down a star, or crash the offensive glass, or chase a bunch of deflections, or whatever it might be. He wants to make something happen. I’m just not sure what will translate given Embiid’s one-of-a-kind abilities. Is he going to play Embiid 37 minutes a game? Is he going to have him switch and hedge defensively? Are the Sixers going to lead the NBA in transition scoring? Like, no to all three, I would expect. The only thing I can think of is giving Embiid more freedom/duties as playmaker — he did that with Marc Gasol, of course, but also to varying degrees with Jonas Valanciunas, Serge Ibaka, and lately Jakob Poeltl. I’m as curious as anyone else.

» READ MORE: Nick Nurse’s first mission: Getting the Sixers to play team ball

JL: Well, the most notable and opportune example is the one that he’s branded and printed onto a hoodie: the box-and-one that he deployed against Steph Curry in the Finals. To his credit, as “janky” as it seemed then, it’s something we’ve seen more of around the league in recent seasons. A couple others that come to mind both have relevance to the team he’s taking over. No coach has had more success neutralizing Embiid over the years — a function of sending multiple defenders at him, which has clearly gotten under his skin at times. There’s also a game against James Harden’s Rockets in December of 2019 that stands out. The Raptors blitzed Harden every time he crossed half court for the entire night. It worked in that they held him to 23 points, when he came in averaging nearly 40 on the season and had scored 110 in the previous two contests. It didn’t work in that the Rockets’ supporting cast hit 19 of 50 three-point attempts and Houston won the game.

Afterwards, Nurse called it an “interesting experiment.” That’s Nurse in his element, a mad scientist at work. For better or for worse, he’s not afraid to try things out and see what happens. He’s never coached a big man as dominant as Embiid, a scorer and playmaker as gifted as Harden or a player as quick as Maxey. After spending the next four months in the lab, it’ll be interesting to see what he cooks up.

DS: Probably the most favorite example was using a box-and-one defense on Stephen Curry in the 2019 NBA Finals. That, and junking up lost-cause games with full-court pressing/trapping defenses, often with end-of-the-bench kids trying to steal a lost game. It happened one night in 2019 or ‘20, when they came back from 30 down to beat Dallas.

» READ MORE: Nick Nurse by the numbers: How the new Sixers coach is different from Doc Rivers

3. Nurse took over a Raptors team that had repeatedly hit a playoff ceiling. The Sixers are in a similar situation, failing to make it out of the second round since 2001. Understanding that ascending from assistant to head coach is different than coming in as an outside hire — and that the Sixers are unlikely to pull off an offseason blockbuster trade for a Kawhi Leonard-type superstar — what can we expect Nurse’s initial priorities to be to set the tone with a team with championship aspirations?

MG: It’s hard to know, honestly. The Raptors team he won with in 2018-19 was different than the one that finished with the league’s second-best record without Kawhi in 2019-20. As an assistant in 2017-18, Nurse was key in developing the “Bench Mob” — the NBA’s best bench unit, featuring Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, Poeltl, etc. — by playing a fast, up-tempo, defensively aggressive style. The last two seasons, Nurse has barely used his bench. If there’s a thread, it’s that he’s perfectly willing to play a style that suits his personnel; there are no sacred cows. Ultimately, he’s a ruthless pragmatist: whatever works.

JL: If nothing else, he should bring immediate credibility, having been in a similar spot and accomplished exactly what the Sixers are hoping to accomplish. With one of the most unique resumés in coaching, Nurse has an almost superhuman ability to relate any situation to one of his experiences around the world — get ready to hear more than you ever wanted to know about the British Basketball League! But while Sixers players may learn to tune out the many BBL stories that are coming their way, something tells me they will be all ears when Nurse speaks about his experience coaching Kawhi and the Raptors to a title, and they would be wise to listen closely.

Nurse knows how to navigate the pressure and manage the egos over the course of an 82-game season with a bigger goal in mind. He knows what it takes to peak at the right time. And even though one of his biggest criticisms has been the tendency to overextend his team’s best players, don’t forget that he helped oversee Leonard’s load management in 2018-19, while going 17-5 in his absence and keeping him fresh for the playoffs. It’s a good position to be in. If Nurse can do what he did in Toronto and help get another long-suffering franchise over the hump, he’ll earn unconditional hero status in Philadelphia. If he can’t and the Sixers continue to fall short, as they did under Doc Rivers and Brett Brown before him, then the fingers will be pointed squarely at Embiid and Harden (if he’s still around), not at the head coach.

DS: He’ll most likely try to get them to play a bit faster, do more switching and recovering on defense. Just a more “enthusiastic” style of play, is maybe the best way to put it.

4. From the outside, Nurse has an interesting personality — perhaps one that eventually ran its course with his former team. How would you describe his communication style and relationship-building, both internally with players/staff and publicly?

MG: Nurse is a good public/media communicator, with a friendly, folksy persona that is very consistent. That said, he’s pretty self-aware of his brand and isn’t shy about putting himself out there, be it his monogrammed hats, or turns on stage with local bands, or cameos on CBC shows. He seems to enjoy being a public figure. He’s relatively transparent with his decision-making process — externally, at least. He’s not one for tirades or blowups of any kind. The most intense you will see him is during games. He tends to leave bad losses/games on the floor — a few exceptions aside — and similarly isn’t one to joust with the media, though there have been a couple of instances. There have been moments when he’s called out a player publicly — which becomes news to the player after the fact — whereas it’s typically stuff gets said in-house before being public. I think he’s pretty businesslike with his players, rather than the type to get to know them in an off-court setting.

JL: Communication and relationship management were among the knocks on Nurse towards the end of his tenure in Toronto. They weren’t the only reasons for his dismissal — they may not have even been the biggest — but by most accounts many of his key relationships within the organization began to deteriorate over time. That’s what happens when you endure two losing seasons in three years, and as we’ve been reminded recently, the shelf life for most coaches in the NBA is relatively short.

DS: He can be quite collaborative and gives his players a chance to be heard — and he was willing to change course quickly in games if his way wasn’t working. But that was with very veteran teams that knew how to win. As the Raptors got younger, I’m not sure he trusted kids nearly as much.

5. What are some qualities you anticipate Nurse will look for as he builds out the rest of his program, from assistant coaches to support staff?

MG: He seems to really value assistants who have head-coaching experience at some level — and NBA experience, too, either as a player or coach. But also favors guys who have really paid their dues to make it to an NBA bench, which is a big part of his own identity. I wouldn’t be surprised if Nate Bjorkgren accompanies him to Philly as his right-hand man.

JL: It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Nurse opt for familiarity and bring a few select members of his Raptors staff with him to Philly (his long-time friend and colleague Bjorkgren is a safe bet). Outside of that, he’s known to value championship experience and head coaching experience, though neither have to come at the NBA level necessarily. Given his own background, he likes to build a well-rounded staff and find opportunities for coaches that came up through the G League or honed their craft overseas. He’s also made a concerted effort to empower and promote his assistants, with recently hired Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin being a good example.

DS: He’ll want a lot of support staff. The Raptors had 10 (TEN!!) people with “assistant coach” titles, and a host of video staffers, medical people, trainers, etc. It was a huge staff. For assistants, I presume he’ll bring along Bjorkgren, who has been with him forever. He likes to have a former head coach on his staff, and always had someone with FIBA or international experience (Sergio Scariolo, Trevor Gleeson) for a different perspective.

» READ MORE: History of Nick Nurse and Joel Embiid: Playoff matchups, sideswipes, and call complaints

6. What are some potential concerns with Nurse, given how things ended in Toronto?

MG: Well, he’s a good coach who has shown that he’s not one to panic or choke under pressure, so he can help most teams. And perhaps his experience in game-planning for Embiid could provide some insight on how to unlock even another level for the league MVP, which is a scary thought. But as they say at the hair salon, “It’s a comb, honey, not a magic wand.” So the idea his presence alone is going to lift the Sixers might be a bit of a stretch, if at least worth a try.

JL: Any concern over Nurse’s style of play is probably overblown. He was reluctant to dial back the aggressive nature of his defense in Toronto, even when the situation may have called for it, but that had more to do with the roster construction than anything else. With a lack of shooting and half-court offense on the floor, Nurse prioritized winning the possession battle as a means of winning games. Philosophically, that’s unlikely to change — Nurse is an aggressive coach by nature — but good coaches adapt to the players around them and he’s a really good coach with some really good players to work with, so there’s little doubt he’ll figure it out.

Much has been made about Nurse’s minute distribution, which created some tension between him and the Raptors’ front office last season. But if his overuse of the starters stunted the development of their young guys off the bench, that’s on management and the players themselves (many of whom didn’t do enough to earn a bigger role) as much as it’s on Nurse. Again, he showed that he could manage the workload of his stars while developing young players like Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, Norman Powell and others during the championship year. If he can balance winning and development in Philadelphia, with an emphasis on the former, it shouldn’t be an issue.

If there’s a concern it’s his communication style. Nurse can be direct, which plays better with some than others. He also has a penchant for publicly challenging his players, in some cases without discussing the matter with the player privately, which Gary Trent Jr. voiced last month. It’s a tactic that works on occasion, lighting a fire under the player, but it hasn’t sat well with everybody. There are some big personalities and big egos in Philly, as you well know, and Nurse hasn’t shied away from calling out his team’s best players, from Siakam to Kawhi, so that will be something to keep an eye on.

DS: He used his best players a bit too much, because he was always more concerned with winning that game than the next night. I don’t think he trusted young kids like Malachi Flynn or Dalano Banton, so, two years later, no one knows if they’re NBA players or not. But I think what ultimately ended his tenure here is that everyone just got stale and tired of each other after five years. Not the fault of any one person, just a natural decline.