Nick Nurse

“I played 4 sports but I wish I could’ve played 6 or 7.”

This week’s Moonlighter started his career in Iowa, circled the globe, and ended up on top of the world. Nick Nurse played in the red and gold of the Kuemper Knights but more recently has been sporting the gold of his NBA championship ring as head coach of the Toronto Raptors. His journey to the top of the basketball world included stops around the US and Europe before arriving in Canada. No matter how far he travels, Nick Nurse is an Iowan that the whole state is proud to claim. 

As a Kuemper Knight, Nurse was a multisport standout athlete. Originally recruited to play baseball at UNI, he thought about also giving football a shot. But basketball was clearly his calling and after graduating from high school in 1985 Nurse became a University of Northern Iowa Panther. Nurse played in 111 games over the next four years and finished his playing career as the all-time leader in 3-point percentage sinking almost 47% of his shots. Nurse started his coaching career in Cedar Falls after finishing his playing days in the purple and yellow. He spent the 1989-90 season pacing the sidelines as a student assistant coach.

“We hear you might be a coach.”

As would be the nature of his career, Nurse’s first stop after college took him across the ocean. Nurse became the player-coach for the Derby Rams of the British Basketball League. That 1990-1991 season would be his only as a professional basketball player, but it would be the start of a career as a fulltime coach that would include 15 teams. In addition to his offensive genius, Nurse is known for his work ethic. His career has taken him through stops in big and small arenas playing in conditions that weren’t always ideal. His rise to NBA Coach of the Year can be attributed to his persistence. Nurse has taken nearly every opportunity that he was given and won at every stop. 

Grand View College was his first head coaching position back in the states and brought him closer to home. After two seasons as a Viking, Nurse became an assistant for the Coyotes of the University of South Dakota for two seasons. He then went back overseas though to return to the BBL where he would win multiple league titles and a coach of the year awards while in Britain. Nurse also had two seasons coaching professional basketball in the US as part of the USBL. 

In 2007 a perfect storm came together as an NBA D-League came to Iowa and needed a coach. The Iowa Energy hired Nick Nurse to be their first head coach and he led them to two division titles and a D League title over the next five seasons before taking the head coach position with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Nurse won another D League title with the Vipers in 2013. He is still the only head coach to win titles in both the D League (now G League) and the NBA.

“I’ve got drills from 84-85 that I still use with the Raptors”

Nurse left the states one more time in 2013 but his flight was much shorter this time around. Arriving in Toronto as an assistant coach under Dwane Casey, Nurse was tasked with revamping the Raptors offense. Nurse was a rising star as an NBA assistant and was named the head coach of the Raptors after Casey was fired in 2018. As had done in his previous head coaching stints, Nurse wasted no time in becoming a winner. Nick Nurse and the Raptors won the 2019 NBA title, defeating the Golden State Warriors in six games. Nurse was also named the NBA coach of the year. 

Nurse’s story is unique even among Moonlighters, because not only is he himself an underdog, but he has spent his career coaching underdogs. From his stops in the BBL and USBL to the NBA D League, Nurse has coached countless players who were fighting for an opportunity. In his time with the Energy, Nurse helped 23 players reach the NBA. One of the most talented is a fellow Moonlighter, Curtis Stinson.

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