Sad news: It has been officially revealed that the head coach of the Toronto Raptors be terminating his contract.
The Toronto Raptors fired Nick Nurse, four years after he led the team to its first NBA championship. The team announced the leadership change in a news release Friday morning.
“The decision to make a change like this is never easy or taken lightly, especially when it comes to someone who has been an integral part of this franchise’s most historic accomplishments and has been a steady leader through some of our team’s most difficult times,” President Masai Ujiri said in a statement.
This is an opportunity for us to refocus, to put in place the individuals and players that will assist us achieve our aim of winning the next championship. The Raptors missed the playoffs this season, losing to the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament.
Speaking to media on Friday, Ujiri stated that the previous year has been “very disappointing” and that the club has lost some momentum. “It’s not one person or one finger to point,” he stated. “There’s no pointing fingers at Nick. I must accept responsibility for this as well. As the leader of our organization, I will always do so, but it was not us this year.”
“I think everyone saw that.” Ujiri reiterated that the decision was made by management and that he had not heard from the players. Nurse joined the Toronto Raptors (opens in a new tab) as an assistant coach in 2013 and was elevated to head coach in 2018.
He helped led the squad to its first NBA championship (opens in a new tab) in 2019, with 58 wins in his debut season. Nurse was chosen league coach of the year for his efforts. However, the squad hasn’t made a deep postseason run since. Nurse’s contract was slated to end in 2024, and there were rumors that the organization would be taking a different approach.
“I adore it here. I enjoy it here, and we’ve developed a really great culture,” Nurse told the Canadian Press (opens in a new tab) just a week ago. “We must all consider how we can restore that culture, return to playoff contention, and eventually win the championship. That is what we want to do. Last season, the Raptors were eliminated in the first round of playoffs by the Philadelphia 76ers.
