Sixers’ Nick Nurse Speaks On Coaching Against Joel Embiid: ‘Interesting Experience’

The Philadelphia 76ers introduced Nick Nurse as their new head coach on June 1 and the NBA champion is excited to work with Joel Embiid.

Even though Nurse and Embiid have had some tense moments in the past, the former Toronto Raptors coach has always had respect for the All-Star center.

“I think that it’s been an interesting experience coaching against Joel,” Nurse said. “We threw everything almost I think you could possibly throw at a guy because it was that hard for us to try to stop him. So we threw a lot at him. So at least I think that we can offensively say this is what we did and here’s how we can beat it. And we’ve almost covered [almost everything].

“The rest of that, it’s just, well, it’s a little bit entertaining for me. I understand there was some exchanges and things … when you’re out there and you’re in the heat of really competing, I didn’t even really remember them. But I accidentally had my TV on yesterday and I saw a couple of them, and they were pretty good.”

Nurse and the Raptors beat Embiid and the Sixers in the 2019 Eastern Conference Semifinals in seven games. That’s the series Kawhi Leonard hit a game-winning shot at the buzzer in Game 7 over Embiid.

“It kind of grew to such a — for me anyway — respect level of him,” Nurse said. “We’d throw one thing and literally even in that playoff series a game later, he would adjust to it and we couldn’t do it.”

Embiid averaged 33.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists this season while shooting 54.8% from the field, 33.0% from beyond the arc and 85.7% from the free-throw. He won the MVP Award and guided the Sixers to 54 wins.

However, the Boston Celtics beat the Sixers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in seven games. Embiid is one of the best players in the NBA, but he has yet to advance past the second round of the playoffs.