Sixers' Nick Nurse Visits Manchester City Training Session

With the NBA Summer League in the rear view mirror and the preseason still a month or so away, the offseason is now hitting a dry period, allowing players and coaches alike to relax ahead of the upcoming campaign. This certainly applies to Philadelphia 76ers head coach, Nick Nurse, who is in the midst of a tour with the NBA's Basketball Without Borders camp, doing the rounds in England.

What are Nurse's ties to the British basketball scene?

To the unitiated, Nurse's participation in the campaign might not make sense, however the British basketball scene is something that the Sixers' head coach has benefitted from. In the early 1990's Nurse was a player for the Derby Rams, a part of the British Basketball League, before swapping over to the coaching side of the game, where he'd spend time with the likes of the Rams, Birmingham Bullets, Manchester Giants, London Towers, and lastly the Brighton Bears.

While he'd split time during that chunk of his career with stints in the United States, the United Kingdom is where Nurse would get his first professional coaching experience.

The program itself didn't only bring the Sixers' head coach across the pond, as the likes of Ivica Zubac, Derek Fisher, Tyson Chandler, and WNBA legend Sylvia Fowles as well.

Nurse visits Manchester City's Training Session

Pep Guardiola x Nick Nurse ⚽️🤝🏀 pic.twitter.com/WOTIcrFjCV
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) August 14, 2025

Given that the NBA camp is being held in Manchester, the Sixers' head coach had a lot of points of interest he could check out during his stay, one of which was at the Etihad Campus, which is where the English giants, Manchester City, practice.

This is what Nurse would end up doing, as he'd pop in for one of the Cityzen's training sessions ahead of their season opener against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday morning, being spotted swapping jerseys with Pep Guardiola, as well as exchanging pleasantries with centre back Manuel Akanji.

While the Sixers' head coach was standing on the sidelines of the pitch, Guardiola came over joking with Nurse that Joe Mazulla would be jealous, given the connections that Manchester City and the Boston Celtics have had over the previous few seasons.

"Joe Mazzulla will be jealous," joked Guardiola. "He will be jealous."

While the Cityzens start their quest to crown themselves as the champions of the English top flight on Saturday morning, the Sixers still sit a few months out from their match in Abu Dhabi against the New York Knicks on October 2.

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