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The Toronto Raptors have removed Nick Nurse from his position as the team’s head coach. They will go through a coaching search, but former Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka is expected to be a prime candidate to take over the job, per Adrian Wojnarowski. Meanwhile, Nurse is already being linked to the Houston Rockets opening.
Nick Nurse is out as Raptors coach, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/HEKwTAdfUH
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 21, 2023
Toronto had a 41-41 record in the 2022-2023 season. The Raptors made the playoffs as the 10-seed but were bounced by the Chicago Bulls in the first play-in game.
Nurse was brought on as the head coach for the 2018-2019 season. He found early success with Toronto as they went on to tally a 58-24 record and an NBA Championship with a 4-2 series win over the Golden State Warriors. The team won the Atlantic again the next season with a 53-19 but lost in the conference semifinals. Nurse took home the Coach of the Year Award that season.
The 2020 COVID bubble season wasn’t favorable for Toronto as they went 27-45. Nurse and the Raptors made the playoffs in the 2021-2022 season but lost in the first round to the Philadelphia 76ers. With his second-worst season during his tenure, Nurse was fired as Toronto tries to figure out how they can bounce back without doing a lengthy rebuild.