‘The greatest coach in franchise history’: Here’s how fans are reacting to the firing of Raptors coach Nick Nurse

News of Nick Nurse being fired dropped just hours before Raptors president Masai Ujiri was scheduled to meet the media for his end-of-season address and more than a week after the team lost all hopes of a post-season appearance.

Nurse is largely credited with leading the Raptors to the 2019 NBA title, the very first year he had been promoted into the head coaching chair after being an assistant to Dwane Casey for five years.

In reaction to Friday’s firing of Nurse, many fans went back to those exciting memories.

“Thank you Nick Nurse for everything you have done for us. You will always be a hero in my (kids eyes),” one fan tweeted on a picture of Nurse during the championship parade.

“It’s tough to see Nick Nurse go, to be honest. They’re not going to find a coach like him again,” another Raptors fan, Perry King, shared on Twitter. “What I mean is that the Raps will find good coaches, of course, but not that of Nurse’s genius mind. I wish him well.”

Some fans were sentimental about it.

“There was a time I thought Nick Nurse would be the Raptors coach forever on some Greg Pop sh*t,” tweeted a fan in reference to San Antonio Spurs head coach Popovich, who has held the job since 1996.

Others were less so.

“Nick Nurse had it coming,” Twitter user Terry Flips observed. “It’s not fully his fault that the Raps can’t shoot but some of his rotations and play calling was extremely questionable.”

Some fans tried to put his firing in perspective, that a change at the head coaching position was necessary at this time.

“Nick Nurse is the greatest coach in franchise history,” posted a Twitter user named Ameer J. Hamid. “He wasn’t the only reason for the Raps disappointing season. That blame is with front office and players.”

Others were quick to point out that Nurse’s success as a Raptors head coach should make him a preferred candidate for other teams in the league, and in a short period of time.

“It’s been almost an hour now, has Nick Nurse been hired as a head coach yet?” someone posted on Twitter.

In the dying days of the season, Nurse added more attention to the matter by telling reporters he would have to evaluate everything as he was set to enter the last year of his contract.

Rumours have since linked him to the Houston Rockets, who fired their head coach Stephen Silas at the end of the season. The Rockets are one of the teams vying for the rights to draft top prospect Victor Wembanyama.

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