Nick Nurse, Toronto Raptors Head Coach: Lessons From an NBA Champion

My guest today is Nick Nurse, the 2019 NBA Champion head coach of the Toronto Raptors and author of Rapture: Fifteen Teams, Four Countries, One NBA Championship, and How to Find a Way to Win - Damn Near Anywhere. He has one of the more unique coaching backgrounds of any professional head coach, with stops as a player-coach and owner-coach in England, 11 years in Europe, and multiple stints in the NBA G-League.

In this episode he explains how his non-traditional path of coaching in England and the D-League helped him prepare to coach in the NBA, and why he prioritized being a head coach instead of working at the highest level possible early in his career, why he's become a life-long learner and pursuing a doctorate degree. 

To learn more about the Nick Nurse Foundation, click here.

Books Recommended by Coach Nurse:

• Win Forever: Live, Work and Play Like A Champion

• Freedom in the Huddle: The Creative Edge in Coaching Psychology by Darrell Mudra

• Sacred Hoops: SPIRITUAL LESSONS OF A HARDWOOD WARRIOR by Phil Jackson

Show Notes:

(1:23) - Episode begins with Coach Nurse’s time as a player-coach in England

(2:56) - Why he focused on being a head coach early in his career

(5:05) - What led him to be so open to experimenting as a coach

(8:05) - Why it’s so important to empower players

(9:10) - Importance of knowing players have motivations besides just the team

(10:55) - What he learned studying Phil Jackson in his career

(13:58) - What he learned meeting with coaches from other sports, including Joe Maddon

(15:40) - His focus on learning off the court throughout his career

(20:08) - Why he started his foundation