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The rivalry between the Raptors and the Philadelphia 76ers just went to a new level.
According to ESPN.com NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, former Raptors head coach Nick Nurse has agreed to replace Doc Rivers as Philadelphia’s head coach.
Nurse was let go by the Raptors late last month and has been in the conversation for every high-profile coach opening in the league. He and Rivers were seen as finalists for the still vacant Phoenix job, and Nurse also had an interview with the Milwaukee Bucks, who hired former Toronto assistant Adrian Griffin on the weekend.
In Philadelphia, Nurse will get to coach Joel Embiid, the NBA’s most valuable player this season and someone who has been critical of Nurse’s coaching tactics. Embiid fired a thinly veiled shot at Nurse during Philadelphia’s first-round playoff series against Brooklyn this season.
“I saw after the game last time they (the Nets) kinda took the Nick Nurse route of begging for free throws and calling out the referees,” Embiid said after a game in that series. “They did come out and they got a lot of calls, which I guess is good for them.”
Nurse and Embiid were in two epic playoff series over four seasons. Toronto beat Embiid and the Sixers in a seven-game Eastern Conference semifinal in 2019; the Sixers and Embiid eliminated the Raptors in a six-game first-round series in 2022.
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