As the 2018-19 NBA season tipped off, Nick Nurse’s biggest challenge was to establish himself with his players as a credible head coach. The leap from assistant to the top job is a difficult one, and is more so in his case. A team in hopeless condition may be inclined to give a rookie coach several years to grow into the role. The Raptors are coming off a 59-win season, and Nurse’s fired predecessor was Coach of the Year.
Nurse’s best player, Kawhi Leonard, is of a calibre Dwane Casey never had. Leonard’s only professional coach before arriving in Toronto was Gregg Popovich, on the short list of the top bench bosses of all time.