Nick Nurse spent a decade living and learning in England before he won an NBA championship.
The 58-year-old from Iowa returned to his former life this week, and another bus ride in Manchester brought all of his early basketball memories back to light.
“I spent 10 or 11 years here along with Chris Finch, who’s head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves,” Nurse exclusively told talkSPORT at the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders Europe camp.
“We like to joke about everybody comes to England to learn the craft of coaching basketball. But that’s what I was doing, just kind of super young. … I loved a couple years here in Manchester.”
In 2025, Nurse is trying to get the best out of former NBA MVP Joel Embiid, who’s stuck between dominating the hardwood with 70 points and watching his Hall of Fame-caliber career evaporate due to lingering injuries.
“I know he’s working very, very hard and I think things look good,” Nurse said.
“Whether he’s ready for training camp or not, I think there’s maybe a lot more decisions than that to make before we get there.”
What’s indisputable is that Nurse is a modern coaching anomaly in The Association.
He grew up in the often-overlooked British Basketball League, made his name in the NBA’s D League, got the best out of Kawhi Leonard as the Toronto Raptors became the first Canadian franchise to win the NBA Finals, and briefly spent time as an assistant coach at Iowa State.
Nurse is an NBA Coach of the Year — and he remembers seeing the Rolling Stones at Old Trafford inside the famous football home of Manchester United in 2018.
“This is the only other time I’ve been back and it’s cool,” Nurse said.
“Just riding the bus to the venues and stuff, I see a lot of familiar things.”
Nurse has coached Pascal Siakam, Jeremy Lin, Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka, Marc Gasol, Nicolas Batum, Pat Beverley, Tobias Harris, Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, Eric Gordon and Quentin Grimes.
He’s also the only coach in NBA history to do all that, while casually referencing the Birmingham Bullets and Manchester Giants, and representing the Derby Rams as a player/coach.
“I could mention vans breaking down. I could get into games,” he said.
“Obviously the title here in ’99 was special. The title in Birmingham in ’96. There’s some Cup victories in there that are pretty cool.”
Nurse’s best British basketball memory is a privileged conversation that only becomes more special over time.
“Finch, I was his assistant coach for the Great Britain national team in the Olympics and that was was truly amazing,” Nurse said.
“And probably the most special thing is I got to meet the Queen right before the Olympics and had a nice little chat with her, so I’ll never forget that.”
Training camp for the 76ers is a month away, and the Embiid questions won’t stop until he starts playing like an MVP again on a $193 million contract.
But with the 2025-26 Premier League season beginning — Crystal Palace has an ownership connection with the 76ers — and the NBA in its final break of the summer, the opportunity to return to England and spread the growth of international basketball was perfect for Nurse.
He’ll always be an NBA champion, and he’ll always be connected with the British game.
“First and foremost, Basketball Without Borders is amazing, right?” Nurse said.
“It gets all the young talent together, sometimes for the first time at this young age. So I’ve been involved with it a little bit, but never really in the summer like this.
“When they said they were going to Manchester, they asked me right away. And I said, ‘Yes,’ right away.
“I thought it’d be a great way to give back a little bit, come back, see a lot of familiar faces, and I’m happy I did.”