Northern Iowa (1989–1990) During their
successful 1989–90 season, Nurse was the sole student assistant coach for Northern Iowa in his final year with the team.
Grand View (1991–1993) In 1991, Nurse got his first full-time head coaching job at
Grand View University at age 23. At the time, he was the youngest college basketball head coach in the country. Nurse coached at Grand View for two seasons.
South Dakota (1993–1995) Nurse was an assistant coaching role at the
University of South Dakota for two seasons.
Europe (1995–2007) Nurse later spent 11 seasons coaching in Europe, mostly in the
British Basketball League (BBL). Nurse also won the
BBL Coach of the Year Award in the
1999–2000 and
2003–04 seasons. He also coached for the
Telindus Oostende of the
Ethias League in 1998, as well as became an assistant coach for the
Oklahoma Storm of the
United States Basketball League in both 2001 and 2005.
D-League In 2007, Nurse accepted the head coaching job for the
Iowa Energy, who were preparing for their first season in the NBA D-League (now called the
NBA G League). The Energy won division titles under Nurse in the 2008–09 and 2009–10 seasons.
Iowa State University After three seasons with the Energy, Nurse agreed to join the coaching staff of the
Iowa State Cyclones as an associate head coach in April 2010.
Return to the D-League Nurse immediately returned to his former position as head coach with the Energy. In the 2010–11 NBA D-League season, Nurse received the
Dennis Johnson Coach of the Year Award after helping Iowa achieve the best record in the league (37–13). Nurse and the Energy then went on to win the 2011 D-League championship. Nurse joined
Joey Meyer as the only NBA G League coaches to win multiple championships but the only one to win with multiple teams. Before the 2011–12 season, Nurse left the Energy for the D-League's
Rio Grande Valley Vipers. In the 2012–13 season, the Vipers finished with a record of 35–15 and won the D-League finals in a two-game sweep of the
Santa Cruz Warriors. During his six seasons coaching in the D-League, Nurse had 23 players on his rosters called up to the
NBA.
Toronto Raptors (2013–2023) In July 2013, Nurse departed the Vipers for an assistant job on the coaching staff of the
Toronto Raptors under
Dwane Casey. He was in charge of the offense during his time under Casey, and in the
2017–18 season, Nurse was credited for changes to the Raptors' offensive game plan which included increases in passing and three-point attempts. The improved offense helped the Raptors win a franchise-record 59 games, but the team was swept in the second round of the
2018 NBA playoffs by the
Cleveland Cavaliers, and Casey was fired shortly thereafter. On June 14, 2018, the Raptors promoted Nurse to the position of head coach to succeed Casey. In his first season, he guided the Raptors to a 58–24 record, led by offseason acquisition (and eventual Finals MVP)
Kawhi Leonard and emerging star
Pascal Siakam, who would go on to win the NBA's
Most Improved Player award. On May 25, 2019, Nurse coached the Raptors to the
2019 NBA Finals, the first for the franchise, after taking the Eastern Conference Championship by defeating the
Milwaukee Bucks in six games. On June 13, Nurse became the first head coach to win both the NBA and NBA D-League/G League titles, when the Raptors defeated the
Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, winning the Raptors their first championship in franchise history. In Nurse's second season, the Raptors finished with a 53–19 record despite losing Leonard to free agency, in a season shortened by the
COVID-19 pandemic. He was widely praised for his creativity and innovation in ensuring that the Raptors were able to maintain a high level of play despite losing Leonard. That season, Nurse qualified to be a head coach in the
2020 NBA All-Star Game as the Eastern Conference representative. On August 22, 2020, Nurse was named
NBA Coach of the Year. However, the Raptors were unable to repeat their playoff success of the previous season, and were eliminated in the conference semifinals, losing in 7 games at the hands of the
Boston Celtics. On September 15, 2020, the Raptors announced that Nurse had signed a multi-year contract extension. After an unsuccessful
2020–21 season in which the Raptors played in
Tampa Bay due to COVID-19, Nurse guided the team to 48 wins and a return to the playoffs in 2022. On April 21, 2023, the Raptors announced that they had fired Nurse, after the team failed to make the playoffs due to their loss to the
Chicago Bulls in the Play-in Tournament.
Philadelphia 76ers (2023–present) On June 1, 2023, the
Philadelphia 76ers announced that Nurse had been hired as their head coach. His experience game-planning defensively against their reigning MVP center
Joel Embiid in the past was considered helpful perspective, namely to help strategize for Embiid to succeed in playoff situations. During the
2023–24 season, Nurse and the 76ers topped the Raptors 114–107 in his return to Toronto as an opposing coach on October 28. Despite injuries to Embiid and other players throughout the season, Nurse was able to secure a 47–35 record and a play-in tournament victory for the Sixers against the No. 8 seed Heat. As the No. 7 seed, they were eliminated in six games by the
New York Knicks in the first round of the
playoffs. The
2024–25 season ended in a 24–58 record, the 76ers' first time missing the playoffs since 2017. ==National team career==