Mar 26, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse looks on during the fourth quarter against the Washington Wizards at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

NBA Player Poll Lands 76ers’ Nick Nurse in Bad Category

Originally posted on Philadelphia 76ers on SI
By Declan Harris | Last updated Apr 23, 2025 8:26 PM ET

It'd be an understatement to say that the Philadelphia 76ers fell short of their goals this season, as they aimed for a deep playoff run, but ended up well short of the NBA Play-In Tournament. This lackluster season came as a result of injuries to their biggest stars.

Joel Embiid entered the season on the injury report, given that he was still ramping himself up to full health after a trip to the 2024 Olympics as a member of Team USA. It would take ten games for Embiid to make his season debut, but he'd struggle to chain appearances together, missing out on 63 matches due to issues with his foot.

Paul George would share a similar fate this season as the Cameroonian superstar, struggling to stay on the court due to various issues, including injuries to his groin, finger, and knees. In his first season with Philadelphia, George would average 16.2 points per game on 43 percent shooting.

Given the unavailability to some of his biggest stars, Sixers' head coach Nick Nurse would find himself using all of his available pieces, which included deep depth pieces as well as the two-way players from the Delaware Blue Coats. This would play some part in Philadelphia finishing the season with their worst record since the 2015-16 season, where they went 10-72.

This performance may have played some role in Nurse's appearance in the "worst coach" category on The Atheltic's Player Poll. Nurse would find himself in the fifth spot with 6.8 percent of votes, falling behind the likes of Brian Keefe, Mike Budenholzer, Charles Lee, and former Philadelphia head coach Doc Rivers.

The authors, Sam Amick and Josh Robbins, included a quote from a player who had sympathy for Nurse, seeing him as a quality coach, just one who has been unlucky when it comes to player selection.

“Coaches can be held handicap by health and the front office. Nick Nurse is a good coach, but he doesn’t have the players right now," the article reads.

There is some merit to this; using last season as a reference, prior to Embiid's torn lateral meniscus in late January, Nurse and the Sixers had the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference. Some of the teams they were trailing included the New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks, and eventual NBA champions, the Boston Celtics.

Looking at Nurse's resume apart from the start to the 2023-24 season, he managed to lift the Larry O'Brien trophy in only his first season as head coach of the Toronto Raptors. This isn't his only experience winning it all, as he won the G League finals on two occasions, first with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and the Iowa Energy.