FILE PHOTO: Aug 19, 2020; Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA; Nick Nurse of the Toronto Raptors reacts against the Brooklyn Nets in Game Two of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2020 NBA Playoffs at The Field House at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Kevin C. Cox/Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports
August 22, 2020
(Reuters) – Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse has been named NBA Coach of the Year after guiding the defending champions to another 50-win domestic season, the league said on Saturday.
Nurse led the Raptors to a 53-19 record in the regular season and set a franchise-record with a .736 winning percentage.
“When you see Nick on the sidelines, that’s who he is as a person,” Raptors President Masai Ujiri said in a statement. “Relaxed, but so hard-working. Creative and dynamic.
“Always setting the tone for our team – attacking our next championship, rather than defending our last.
“That is who Nick is, that is why we believe in him. His journey to this tremendous honour has been a long one – we are so happy to see him recognized this way.”
Nurse, who led the Raptors to the NBA title in his rookie season last year, received 90 first-place votes from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters.
Milwaukee Bucks’ Mike Budenholzer finished second and Oklahoma City’s Billy Donovan came third.
(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
