A Lifetime of Coaching: Fireside Chat with NBA Champion Nick Nurse

The Coach

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Nick Nurse began his coaching career at age 23; taking over as head coach of the Grand View University men's basketball program in 1991. After two years there, he moved to an assistant coach position for the university of South Dakota.

From 1995-2006, Nurse coached primarily in the British Basketball League (BBL). Here, he led two different teams to BBL Championships, and was named BBL Coach of the Year twice.

In 2007, Nurse returned to America and took over as head coach of the Iowa Energy in the NBA D-League. His success continued; Nurse led the squad to win the D-League Championship in 2010-11, a year in which he was also named Coach of the Year. In 2012-13, Nurse was named head coach of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, finishing the year with a 35-15 record and another D-League Championship. 

From 2013-2018, Nurse served as an assistant to head coach Dwane Casey of the Toronto Raptors. Following Casey's departure in 2018, he was elevated to head coach. From there, Nurse would go on to lead the Raptors to a 58-24 record, reaching the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. With the entire nation behind them, Nurse and the Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors in six games, cementing his spot in the record books, and the hearts of millions of Canadians. Nurse followed this historic run with another impressive season in the COVID-19-impacted 2020 season, leading the team to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals and earning NBA Coach of the Year. He is the only coach to win both NBA D-League and NBA Championships. 

In 2020, Canada Basketball announced that Nick Nurse would take over as head coach of the Senior Men's National Program. He will lead the team into Olympic Qualifiers in Victoria this June as they play for the chance to participate in the Tokyo 2020 (2021) Olympic Summer Games.