Sixers HC Nick Nurse talks getting to coach Joel Embiid: 'He's a problem'

By Jeff Smith | Last updated 7/13/23

You would almost certainly be hard-pressed to find an NBA coach who doesn't at least have some level of praise for Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid.

The 2023 NBA Most Valuable Player is coming off the most dominant season of his career and has improved from a scoring perspective across the board for three years in a row.

While Embiid averaged 28.5 points per game two years ago and 30.6 last year, he put it all together in 2022-23, posting marks of 33.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists (tied for a career-best), 1.7 blocks (career-best) and shot a stellar 54.8% from the field on 20.1 attempts per game.

Embiid and the Sixers will have a new coach next season after the front office opted to move on from Doc Rivers and replace him with former Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse.

Nurse, who's seen plenty of Embiid during the regular season and, of course, during two postseason matchups in 2018-19 and 2021-22, now gets the coach the reigning MVP and, not surprisingly, sounds plenty excited about it.

During an interview with SiriusXM NBA Radio's Frank Isola and Justin Termine, he was asked about playing against Embiid and called the big man "a problem." He proceeded to say, "I'm glad I'm on his side now, so I don't have to try to go up against him."

Here's a look at the clip of Nurse discussing coaching Embiid now:

Nurse and Embiid are obviously an intriguing fit and one that could lead to promising results for the Sixers, specifically with Nurse showcasing the ability to have success in the postseason by winning a title with the Raptors.

There's a huge question mark still looming, of course, as the future of James Harden remains up in the air, but if by some chance the star guard does opt to play another year in Philly or the team gets a nice haul in return for him, they could be primed for a deep postseason run.

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