The Philadelphia 76ers are beginning a new era with the hiring of Nick Nurse. After three seasons of Doc Rivers, the Sixers brought in Nurse to provide a new voice leading them on their championship path.
Nurse has a championship on his resume during his time with the Toronto Raptors, and he has been known as an innovative thinker. He has implemented a number of wacky schemes, and he can be quite animated on the sideline, but there is no question he is one of the top coaches in the league.
Raptors star Fred VanVleet already gave his approval for the hire, but he hopped on The Stadium to give further details on what the Sixers are getting in Nurse:
Just a different voice that they haven’t heard before. Something outside the box. He’s gonna bring new ideas, creative ideas. It’ll be a great breath of fresh air for them. Any time you change your head coach, that’s pretty much what you’re looking for is a new identity a new voice for guys who kind of rally behind I think. Coming down the stretch, pretty much had to get Joel (Embiid) on board. I think once they got that and once Nick met with with Joel and as long as he’s signing off on all the crazy stuff that coach wants to do, I think that they’ll be in a good spot. So I think he’ll have some success. Hopefully, not too much if I’m not there, and I’m staying in Toronto, we want him to fail but other than that, I’m happy that he landed on his feet. Our situation was our situation this year and coming down the stretch, they decided to go different ways, but I’m just happy that he landed on his feet. Good to see him back with another job.
When asked if Embiid or James Harden gave him a call to figure out what they’re getting into with Nurse, VanVleet added:
I haven’t gotten those calls yet, but they might be calling after training camp trying to figure out how to read him, but he’s definitely a different guy, but certainly one of the top coaches in the NBA, and we saw that with us winning the championship. So that bond that we have, that’s a lifelong thing.
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"That bond that we have, that's a lifelong thing."@FredVanVleet gave his thoughts on the 76ers hiring his former coach Nick Nurse. pic.twitter.com/KbCoVNDT0l
— Stadium (@Stadium) May 30, 2023
Nurse getting Embiid’s stamp of approval is a big factor in all of this. Obviously, the two of them are ready to work together and help the Sixers get a bit closer to that championship they desperately crave.
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