Raptors' head coach Nick Nurse has a passion for teaching

As the head coach of the Toronto Raptors, Nick Nurse has plenty of opportunities to share his knowledge with others. In fact, some would argue that doing so is literally what he is paid to do. And it’s something that he’s been doing pretty effectively.

Following five years as an assistant coach with the organization, the 51-year-old was named the new top dog last summer. In his first 43 games in the elevated role, you could say that things are going pretty well.

The Raptors’ record of 31-12 is one of the best in the NBA and they’ve been able to find that success despite some serious injury troubles in the first half of the campaign.

If he wasn’t focusing on the X’s and O’s of professional basketball though, it’s likely that his desire to teach would still make up a large portion of his life.

“I think I would probably be a university professor or a college professor and I think that’s probably where I’m heading, too, when I’m done (coaching),” he said to Danny Green, one of his ‘students’, on a recent episode of Inside the Green Room.

Outside of the time he spends preparing his squad for upcoming games, he continues to take classes in a variety of topics. Most recently, he’s been doing some online learning about crisis management.

“I like to learn,” Nurse explained. “I really believe in education.”

Adding new skills and information to his repertoire is clearly something that he has a passion for. Yet, we’re sure that Raptors fans hope that none of what he learned in those crisis management classes needs to be used while he’s on the job anytime soon.

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