By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse has been named the NBA’s 2019-20 Coach of the Year. This is the first time that he has received this honor.
Nurse – who completed his second season as the Raptors bench leader – learned of the award during TNT’s pre-game show before the Orlando Magic faced the Milwaukee Bucks at the NBA’s bubble in Orlando, Florida.
He was surprised by Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet during the interview.
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Lowry gave Nurse the Red Auerbach Trophy during the interview. He beat out Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer and Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan.
After the seeding games in Orlando, the Raptors had the second-best record in the coronavirus pandemic-shortened season with a 53-19 mark. Nurse guided the team to their best win percentage during a season at .736.
All three coaches guided their teams to the playoffs in their respective Divisions.
The Bucks had the best record on the season under Budenholzer with a 56-17 mark. Milwaukee went 3-5 in the seeding games in Orlando. The Raptors; however, went 7-1.
Donovan guided the Thunder to a 44-28 mark, which was the fifth-best record in the tough Western Conference. The Thunder went 4-4 in the seeding games.
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Nurse guided the Raptors to their first NBA Championship during his first year as head coach. He guided the team to a 4-2 series win over the Golden State Warriors in six games.
The Warriors were hampered by injuries in the series, but Nurse outcoached Steve Kerry to win the Championship.
👏🏽 @Klow7 & @FredVanVleet surprise @Raptors Coach Nick Nurse with the 2019-20 Coach of the Year 🏆 during his #INSIDEtheNBA interview! #NBAAwards pic.twitter.com/3rVQwciC9W
— NBA on Campus (@nbaoncampus) August 22, 2020
The hardware! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/OpKoZ1c98f
— NBA on Campus (@nbaoncampus) August 22, 2020
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