The Philadelphia 76ers have their Doc Rivers replacement.
Philadelphia, who fired Rivers following a blown 3-2 series lead to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals, reportedly will make Nick Nurse the 26th head coach in franchise history, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Nurse joins the 76ers directly off of a departure from the Toronto Raptors, who he parted ways with in April after a decorated five-season stint. The 55-year-old posted a 227-163 (.582) record with Toronto, winning the 2019 NBA championship and the 2020 Coach of the Year award during his tenure.
Rivers and Nurse were both candidates to take the Phoenix Suns head coach opening. The hiring of Nurse in Philadelphia and the hiring of his former assistant Adrian Griffin in Milwaukee leaves Phoenix without many choices left.
The first order of business for Nurse will be finding a resolution to James Harden’s unrestricted free agency.
