Raptors coach Nick Nurse was named the NBA's Coach of the Year on Saturday in a runaway, a deserving award for the leader of the defending Finals champs, who went 53-19 this season — including 7-1 in the NBA bubble — and 3-0 so far in the NBA playoffs.
But the folks over at "NBA on TNT" found a way to make it even cooler for the second-year coach: They got his old high school coach, Wayne Chandlee of Kuemper Catholic High School (Carroll, Iowa), to present him the honor.
What a moment 👏
— Sporting News Canada (@sportingnewsca) August 22, 2020
Nick Nurse’s high school coach presented the Raptors leader with his Coach of the Year award.pic.twitter.com/ZcbAQscRRL
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You can tell how much the gesture means to Nurse, who beams through pretty much the entirety of Chandlee's message and after. Shortly thereafter, Kyle Lowry and Fred VanFleet showed up to present Nurse with his physical award.
.@Klow7 and @FredVanVleet present Nick Nurse with the 2019-20 NBA Coach of the Year award! 🙌#NBAAwards pic.twitter.com/x80foNIFSF
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) August 22, 2020
A pretty awesome moment for a deserving coach; but now it's on Nurse and his team to finish the job. The Raptors need to finish off the Nets in the first round of the playoffs before turning their attention to the winner of the Celtics-76ers series.
