The 2022-23 campaign was a disappointing one for Nick Nurse and the Toronto Raptors. That 41-41 finish has led the Raptors firing their head coach as the offseason nears closer. Fantom Sports confirmed the news on Friday.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania of The Athletic were the first to report the firing.

The firing of Nurse ends a four-year stint in which, he was able to lead the Raptors to their first and only NBA title.

The Raptors finished the regular season with a 41-41 record, which was good enough for ninth place in the Eastern Conference and they lost their play-in game to the Chicago Bulls earlier in the week. Nurse’s name has been rumored to both the Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets if the Raptors decided to part ways. Now, former Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka is the lead candidate to replace Nick Nurse in Toronto.

Nurse had one year left on his contract. Though, he will not return for that year. At times this season, there seemed to be some disconnection between Nurse and the Raptors’ front office. The coach leaned heavily on his starters and young players like Malachi Flynn and Dalano Banton got little playing time.

Throughout, the season Nurse claimed multiple times that he had a good relationship with President Masai Ujiiri. Though, at the end of the season in his media availability, that claim didn’t seem aligned.

For much of his time in Toronto, Nurse has actually led the Raptors to a productive season. The team cut ties with Dwane Casey following the 2017-18 season and promoted Nurse after five years as an assistant. He proceeded to guide the Raptors to the NBA title in his first season at the helm after the club made a blockbuster trade for Kawhi Leonard.

Despite losing Leonard in free agency, the Raptors got off to a torching 46-18 start in the 2019-20 campaign before play was halted due to COVID-19. Nurse was named NBA coach of the year in 2019-20 and then signed a contract extension.

Nick Nurse will be an active candidate by teams without a head coach this off-season. Nurse was 227-163 in 360 regular-season games as head coach in Toronto.

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