Philadelphia 76ers replace Doc with Nurse; Bucks hire former Celtic Adrian Griffin

A couple coaching hires to get you caught up on prior to tonight's Game 7. The Philadelphia 76ers have replaced former Boston Celtics 2008 championship coach Doc Rivers with former Toronto Raptors 2019 championship coach Nick Nurse. Joel Embiid developed into a MVP under Doc and Tyrese Maxey made a leap, but Ben Simmons' career took a 180 at the end of the 2020-21 season and his replacement James Harden wasn't enough to get Philly past the 2nd round.

Harden is a free agent and will likely decide either to stay in Philadelphia or return to the Houston Rockets.

ESPN Sources: Nick Nurse has reached an agreement to become the next coach of the Philadelphia 76ers. Nurse — who won an NBA championship and a coach of year award with Toronto — now gets to coach the 2023 MVP Joel Embiid. pic.twitter.com/SrsXhzx7Y3

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 29, 2023

Adrian Griffin who was an undrafted rookie at the age of 25 on the 1999-2000 Celtics, where he started 47 games, played two seasons in Boston and was a fun player to root for. His name has been in the mix for a few NBA head coaching gigs in recent years, so congrats to Adrian and finally getting the gig.

Griffin ironically was an assistant for Nurse in Toronto will get to coach Giannis in Milwaukee. The Bucks fired their own championship coach this offseason as well.

Breaking: The Bucks are planning to hire Toronto Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin as the franchise’s next head coach, sources told @wojespn.

The two sides are progressing on terms of an agreement. pic.twitter.com/mVHY3f9z8f

— ESPN (@espn) May 27, 2023