The Toronto Raptors have fired Nick Nurse after five seasons as the team’s head coach, the team announced on Friday.
Nurse, who guided the Raptors to their one and only NBA title in 2019 and was appointed NBA coach of the year in 2020, spent five years as head coach after serving a further five as an assistant.
The 55-year-old went 227-163 in his five seasons in charge of his role, with his .582 winning percentage ranking as the best of any coach in franchise history, although leaves after a third successive disappointing campaign.
The Raptors missed the playoffs in 2021 – when they were forced to play home games in Florida because of Covid-19 travel restrictions getting in and out Canada – and were beaten in the first round last year, before losing an elimination game at home to the Chicago Bulls in the play-in tournament this season.
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Chicago Bulls’ Demar DeRozan’s daughter screamed every time a Toronto Raptors player attempted a free throw and they went on to miss 18 out of 36 shots
Raptors president Masai Ujiri said in a statement: “The decision to make a change like this is never arrived at easily or taken lightly, especially when it comes to a person who has been an integral part of this franchise’s most historic accomplishments, and who has been a steady leader through some of our team’s most challenging times.
Ujiri called the move “an opportunity for us to reset, to refocus, to put into place the personnel and the players who will help us reach our goal of winning our next championship.”
What next for Nurse?
Nurse, who has previously suggested he might take some time after the season to decide his own future, said in March: “It’s been 10 years for me, which is a pretty good run. Over those 10 years, we’ve got to be up there in number of wins with anybody in the league.”
Former Boston coach Ime Udoka is among the coaches who Toronto are expected to consider for Nurse’s replacement, having led the Celtics to the NBA Finals last season. Udoka was suspended for the 2022-23 campaign after an inappropriate relationship with a former Celtics employee.
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ESPN reported that Nurse is a top candidate for the head coaching position with the Houston Rockets, who released their head coach Stephen Silas earlier this month.
Nurse will retain his role as head coach of Canada’s national men’s team, who are preparing for the World Cup and qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Watch the NBA Playoffs live on Sky Sports. The next match-up sees Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks take to the court in the early hours of Saturday for the third game of their best-of-seven series.
