Philadelphia 76ers Allegedly Eyeing Nick Nurse To Replace Doc Rivers

The Philadelphia 76ers are in search of a new head coach after the firing of Doc Rivers who failed to steer the franchise to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The one-time NBA champion coach was handed the pink slip on Tuesday, May 16, after the Sixers were eliminated by the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, 112-88.

Philly is expected to target a credible NBA coach to succeed Rivers.

With a lot of coaches available in the market, it appears the Sixers are eyeing another former champion coach in Nick Nurse.

As for Rivers, the veteran coach issued a statement following his departure from the Sixers.

"I really enjoyed my time in Philadelphia—what a great city. I want to start by thanking my staff, the players, and the ownership group for their support," part of Rivers' statement read. "We got a lot done in a short amount of time.

Nurse was removed from his post in April after the Raptors managed to reach the play-in tournament but subsequently lost to the Chicago Bulls.

According to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the 76ers management is set to meet with the 55-year-old this week.

To his credit, Nurse compiled a 227-163 record since taking over as head coach before the 2018-19 NBA season.

The 2020 NBA Coach of the Year was also behind the team's 2019 NBA title run and also had three postseason runs.

Moreover, he won two NBA D-League championships and two British Basketball League titles before coaching in the NBA.

Aside from Nurse, other names being floated to possibly be the next head coach of the Sixers include Mike Budenholzer, Monty Williams, Frank Vogel and Mike D' Antoni.

The coaching names mentioned were a result of their previous teams opting to go in a different direction.

In the opinion of Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, this is a bit disturbing.

Spoelstra also pointed out how only some teams can advance and the firings are surprising.

"There's only so many teams that can advance. It's just a really hard thing to do. Yeah, it's been a tough couple weeks, hearing the news of just some really surprising firings," Spoelstra said when asked to comment on the matter in a report by the Associated Press.