76ers replace Doc Rivers with championship-winning coach

The Philadelphia 76ers have found their new head coach.

The Sixers will be manned by Nick Nurse for the 2023-24 season, reports ESPN.

Nurse was fired as the Toronto Raptors head coach after they failed to make the playoffs – the Raptors led their play-in tournament game by as many as 19 points, but still lost to the Chicago Bulls, ending their season. Toronto went 41-41 in the regular season.

Nurse coached the Raptors to their NBA championship in 2019 when they defeated the Golden State Warriors — it was their first title, and Finals appearance, in franchise history.

Nurse is the second member of the 2022-23 Raptors’ coaching staff to find a new head coaching gig — the Milwaukee Bucks hired Adrian Griffin as their head coach after firing Mike Budenholzer. Budenholzer led the Bucks to their title in 2021, but he was fired after Milwaukee, the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, dropped the first round in five games to the eighth-seeded Miami Heat.

Philadelphia fired Doc Rivers following their playoff exit via the Boston Celtics. Philly led three games to two in the second round of the playoffs.

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Rivers coached the Sixers for three seasons, but has long been criticized for being unable to get past the hump in the playoffs.

Nurse won NBA Coach of the Year honors in 2020 following their 53-19 record despite the departure of Kawhi Leonard.

The Sixers went 54-28 this season thanks in part to Joel Embiid, who won his first MVP Award. Embiid averaged 33.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.

Nurse was previously an assistant coach for the Raptors from 2013 to 2018. Toronto has yet to replace Nurse.