Toronto Raptors bench boss Nick Nurse has been relieved of his duties as head coach, vice chairman and president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri announced Friday.
Former Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka is expected to be a serious candidate for the Raptors job, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
“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 said in a statement.
“As we reflect on Nick’s many successes, we thank him and his family, and wish them the best in the future. This is 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.”
Nurse spent the past decade as a member of the Raptors’ organization. He first served as an assistant under Dwane Casey before being promoted to head coach in 2018 when the latter was fired.
Nurse guided the club to a 227-163 mark, including the franchise’s first and only championship in 2019, becoming one of nine head coaches to win a title during their first season on the job. A year later, the Iowa native became the third bench boss in team history to win Coach of the Year honors.
Toronto signed Nurse to a multi-year contract extension following the 2019-20 campaign. He had one year and $8 million-plus remaining on his deal, sources told Wojnarowski.
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