Raptors coach Nick Nurse opens up on how he manages stress throughout season
Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse is many things: an NBA champion, a veteran of 14 different organizations in the pro and college ranks in his coaching career, and a well-respected voice across the basketball world.
But ever since the Carroll, Iowa native earned an added level of fame once taking over the head job in Toronto, his love for listening and performing all types of music has come to the forefront — whether it’s a guitar, piano, or simply singing along to the words.
“I was 17 years old and I rode a Greyhound bus all the way to Minneapolis to see Prince’s Purple Reign Tour. And I’ve never been the same since,” Nurse told the crowd on Monday night at his self-titled Foundation’s An Evening of Music fundraising event.
Prince’s former backing band — New Power Generation — kicked off the evening taking place at Toronto’s History venue.
Joining NPG were CKay, DJ Jon Daniels, Kardinal Offishall, Francesco Yates, as well as a headline performance by Ne-Yo.
One of the two marquee events for Nurse’s foundation — the other being his summer charity golf tournament — Nurse pulled out his 2019 NBA championship ring with the Raptors to wear on the night, offering anyone who was interested a picture with it.
Adam Laskaris/Daily Hive
“The best part about the championship is sharing it with all the people,” Nurse said in an interview with Daily Hive. “You don’t wear this thing very often, but this is the night to bring it out. It’s a special occasion. A lot of people here that support the team will be here, and probably a lot of them haven’t seen it. Give them a chance to put it on, take a picture, whatever.”
The 2020 NBA Coach of the Year, Nurse said he’s always looked at music as a way to take his mind off the grind of the Raptors’ season.
“It’s really all just a hobby and for enjoyment, right? It’s just all about trying to learn something new, trying to relieve some stress and trying to do something productive when I’m on the road… I can’t watch film 24 hours a day,” he said.
Nurse’s foundation also gifted a pair of cheques on the evening: a $7,500 donation to the University of Toronto Faculty of Music and a $50,000 donation to the Africentric Alternative School in order to build a music Lab for their students from kindergarten to Grade 8.
“This is going to help kids and in sports education, music, man. The things that I’m passionate about,” Nurse said.
Along with the vast majority of his Raptors players, Nurse took a picture with Arkells frontman Max Kerman, who made a surprise appearance.
Arkellsmusic/ Instagram
Toronto’s opening night roster was officially finalized on Tuesday, though it’d been unofficially confirmed earlier this week.
“It’s always really tricky,” Nurse admitted about figuring out his rotation this season. “It’s always moving and shifting and I think it’s a matter of how I feel going into a game. You always get an idea of the matchups, who can who can match up with who… And then once the game starts, it’s going with your gut and giving guys shots, and if they do well, they may get longer stints.”
While they made the playoffs as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference last year, Toronto is hoping for a better start than last year’s season. After being 6-5 on November 7, the Raptors didn’t hold a winning record again until November 5, when they were 18-17.
“I think training camp has been really productive. And we’ve gotten a lot done and we’ve worked very hard. But I just think you never really know until the ball goes up… we didn’t really know last year when the ball went up on the floor,” Nurse added.
Toronto kicks off its season Wednesday night at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT, when they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers, with five new additions: Otto Porter Jr., Christian Koloko, Juancho Hernangomez, as well as a pair of players on two-way contracts in Jeff Dowtin and Ron Harper Jr.
“It’ll probably take us 20 games to figure out exactly who’s going to be coming off the bench, and playing what position, and with who and all that kind of stuff,” Nurse said.
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