Chris Boucher's reaction to Raptors firing Nick Nurse

On the latest Hustle Play, Chris Boucher reveals his reaction to the Raptors firing Nick Nurse and whether or not he got the feeling his former head coach wanted to leave the organization. Watch the full episode on our Yahoo Sports Canada YouTube channel or listen on the podcast feed.

Video Transcript

- Now, Nick Nurse, obviously, we all know has been relieved of his duties. What was your first thought when you heard about that? And did you kind of expect that, or it kind of came out of left field for you?

CHRIS BOUCHER: I mean, I don't know. I feel like when we came, when the conversation came about, change of identity and all, I don't know. I felt like if something was going to happen, it's probably going to be allowed to go different ways. I thought maybe they would try to break it down all and break everything up. But I mean, to be honest with you, if I see how the team was going and all that, and maybe the comments that he said before, if I was really concerned about that and really focused on it, maybe I would say yes, but I didn't see it coming.

I feel like after my exit meeting I had with him and all we were talking about how I could get better next year and whatever, I didn't see that coming.

- You think it was needed?

CHRIS BOUCHER: I mean, I think there's a lot of things that need to be needed on this team. But I think if he wants to start somewhere and start fresh, whatever, bringing a new coach is definitely going to do something. I think it's definitely going to bring competitiveness, and guys are going to try to go at it, and practice, and show what they're capable of doing.

I think that's probably something that we need, just, like more hard work, more willing, more wanting. I think that's something Toronto always did, and I think that's definitely going to bring back, bring it back. Definitely, probably, like I said, probably going to be a new coaching staff and all that. So I think things will change. And when they said we needed to bring back the culture and all that, maybe that's what we need for it.

- Did you ever get a vibe from him like maybe it was time to part ways now?

CHRIS BOUCHER: Like I said, after like one week after when we lost and, like, I go back and I see the comments that he said, and all that, I definitely felt like he probably needed it, too, the way he was saying it. He was saying that it's been 10 years, and he feels like he needs to think about it and all that. I mean, I think they both know that comment probably woke-- definitely opened some eyes.

And it's like saying, like, you know what, maybe I need to move, and then your landlord said you need to move. At the end of the day, like, if you were thinking about it, then it's going to happen, and that's what happened to him.

- Now, a few people, Masai, Fred VanVleet talked about it, as well. They talked about the culture a little bit, right. You want to change that culture, try to get it back to, I guess, maybe what it was a few years before. What do you think about the culture of the team right now? And how did it change this year compared to recent years past?

CHRIS BOUCHER: I mean, I think when they say change, it's just bringing back what it was before. If you look at Toronto basketball, and the guys that were here, and all that, like, guys used to, like, you know, I feel like they work extremely hard. And even if you didn't have the best talent in the league, like, you would definitely find a way to be one of the best teams. And collectively, you would be the best make. You would players look amazing.

But I think that we lost that a little bit just by, like Masai said, man, a little bit of selfishness for sure. I think that we definitely got caught up into whatever the media was saying. See, after the first CW we had, we all felt good, thinking that next year we were going to do something, and we didn't. And I think we needed that reality check to realize that we need to get better, not just as a team, but individually.

I think everybody needs to work on their game, like me, me, everybody off the bench, just so we could do something off of it, too. But I think the one thing that definitely changed everything on this team is the way that we went out every game. You know what I'm saying? We used to be the underdog and go there and try to get it. And no matter how, no matter who was in front of us, not be afraid, and just go over there, and get a win.

And then now we were giving up 20 point games, started getting be down 20, given 20 point quarters, or stuff like that. Like, that's just not who he was. That's never were who we were, and I think we lost that competitiveness. I don't want to say with Kyle, but Kyle definitely had something. He definitely brought some juice to that, too. I think when Kyle was on the floor, he'd definitely, kind of, help us a little bit.

Fred still got that like. I feel like Fred, you know, obviously, you could see, like, he's in it, and he wants to win. But I think Kyle was doing that at a level where I don't even know if I'm able to see somebody else doing it besides Kawhi. Kawhi was another one that I see, when he wanted to play, he was going crazy. Like, when Kawhi was telling everybody, like, OK, let's go to work, I felt like it was uplifting the whole team.