Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse has been named NBA’s 2019-2020 Coach of the Year.
Nurse’s high school coach Wayne Chandlee joined NBA on TNT to announce him as the award recipient, in what was a really emotional moment.
Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet even gave the trophy to Nurse while he was live on Inside The NBA.
.@Klow7 and @FredVanVleet present Nick Nurse with the 2019-20 NBA Coach of the Year award! 🙌#NBAAwards pic.twitter.com/x80foNIFSF
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) August 22, 2020
The Raptors coach defeated Milwaukee’s Mike Budenholzer and Oklahoma City’s Billy Donovan in media voting for NBA Coach of the Year.
The 52 year-old, in his second year on the job, led the Raptors to a 46-18 record before the 2019-20 season was suspended March 11 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite losing Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green in the offseason, Nurse has the defending champions playing solid defense and being candidates to get out of the East for a second consecutive year.
Nurse earned Eastern Conference Coach of the Month honours twice during the 2019-20 campaign – January and games played in October/November - and coached Team Giannis at the NBA All-Star Game in Chicago.
He also becomes the first coach in NBA history to earn both NBA Coach of the Year honours and G-League Coach of the Year honours.