The Biggest Reason the 2024-25 Sixers Season Still Matters
The nightmare of the 2024-25 Philadelphia 76ers took a new turn when the organization announced Joel Embiid will not return to the lineup this season.
While the big man’s future health undoubtedly impacts the franchise more than any other factor, the remainder of a season with low playoffs odds will also impact the future of Nick Nurse as Sixers head coach.
Sixers Struggle Under Nurse’s Watch
Coaching isn’t the root of the problem for the struggling Sixers. However, the idea of granting a mulligan for an injury-plagued season is also an oversimplified idea that no NBA front office should accept.
Acknowledging that the team’s struggles weren’t Nurse’s fault also doesn’t mean that he’s the best man for the job moving forward. The head coach’s future requires more scrutiny.
Nurse has offered very few solutions to the team’s problems on the court this season regardless of the availability of star players. Can he help the Sixers regain their footing in 2025-26? Or, do the Sixers need a new voice on the sidelines and a fresh start after such a brutally long season under Nurse?
When the Sixers hired Nurse entering the 2023-24 season, he quickly demonstrated the type of leadership and stability the organization needed after chaotic superstar drama, busted draft picks, and the controversial Process years.
The former Toronto coach’s book Rapture describes the value of a coach who works “above the chaos of the game” to create team chemistry. Nurse controlled the temperature of his team during his first season through major roster changes resulting from the James Harden blockbuster and an NBA Trade Deadline shakeup that suddenly flipped his cast of role players that had developed a good rhythm.
Related Content: Should the Sixers Replace Daryl Morey With Bob Myers?
He impressed observers by enforcing strong practice habits and utilized secondary pieces Nico Batum and Kelly Oubre Jr. effectively.
The former NBA champion couldn’t push the Sixers through the first round of the NBA Playoffs, however, and he hasn’t demonstrated the same strengths this season.
He spoke candidly at the Sixers Youth Gala on 97.5 The Fanatic about his team’s difficulty tuning out the distractions surrounding Embiid’s situation and the health of Paul George and Tyrese Maxey.
“There’s been some low moments that continue to kind of linger… We’ve got to get to work every day. We’ve got to be pros. We’ve got to do our job, and we’ve got to compete. There’s been some times where we haven’t handled that very well… There’s been a couple that have been pretty bad. When the noise gets super extra loud, we haven’t been able to quiet it out onto the floor and just go do our jobs.” -Nick Nurse on 97.5 The Fanatic
Job Security of NBA Head Coaches
NBA coaches face certain elements of reality that aren’t necessarily fair. They’re hired to be fired, and volatile factors outside their control can leave them vulnerable as scapegoats for players on lucrative contracts who are much harder for front offices to move and replace.
It’s difficult for an NBA team to retain a head coach after a season like the one at the Wells Fargo Center in 2024-25. The Sixers reached a new low point in an embarrassing loss against the Chicago Bulls on February 24 in the type of game that brings up conversations about a possible coaching change.
Things might’ve gotten ugly, but the season isn’t over. Nurse has demanded better professionalism from his team. Their response will go a long way in determining his future in Philadelphia.
Will closure in the Joel Embiid Saga eliminate a distraction off the floor and help the message resonate with the players? Nurse’s job for the remainder of the season is to make sure that it does, and he’s going to have to do it while Maxey and George still battle injuries.
The Sixers minus Joel Embiid still have enough talent on their roster to land in playoff position even if they aren’t comparable the Eastern Conference powers like the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Their record doesn’t reflect that. After the final verdict on Embiid’s season came down, they entered the month of March at 20-38 while allowing the highest opponent field goal percentage of any NBA team.
“I don’t want to sit here and make excuses, but the damn injury bug just will not leave us alone at all. Six guys, it seems, or seven on the injury list every night. It’s just too many to overcome. I think consistently, we’ve just got to get some group of guys that are healthy, keep some of these younger guys going. Some of these newer guys (have) got to find their footing, and then we’ve just got to keep playing.” -Nick Nurse on 97.5 The Fanatic
Can Nurse show a better ability to maximize the talent on the roster over the final 24 games? The difference between an “excuse” and an explanation is irrelevant. The Sixers must control the controllable.
Nurse will still have to handle the chaos of the injury bug, but final decisions on Embiid and Eric Gordon, the subtraction of veterans Reggie Jackson and Caleb Martin, and the increased roles of younger players like Justin Edwards, Quentin Grimes, and Adem Bona will provide a more reasonable barometer for the evaluation of the head coach’s impact on the season.
Nick Nurse Will Determine His Own Future
Coaches are evaluated on their ability to maximize available resources. Nurse certainly has achieved that goal at other points in his career.
The Toronto Raptors entered the NBA Playoffs in 2019 after their five starters had played 56 minutes together during the regular season. Their chemistry came together quickly for an NBA Finals run that Philadelphia fans will never forget (for the wrong reasons).
His ability to withstand the chaos surrounding a team is supposed to be his strength.
Nick Nurse will never coach in a situation without some level of chaos. It’s not how professional sports work. How will he navigate the remaining challenges of a seemingly lost season to impact his own future with the franchise?
“The expectations obviously are flipped upside down. There’s just no denying that. Again, you can blame some of it on injury. You can blame a lot of it on injury, whatever you want to, but we’ve got to play good basketball. We’ve got to play hard. We’ve got to guard. We’ve got to execute and get the shots we want. We’ve got to do that for 48 minutes, whoever’s there or whoever’s not there.” -Nick Nurse on 97.5 The Fanatic
