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Fred VanVleet Discusses What Makes Nick Nurse so Special: 'It Means the World'
For all the scheming, game-planning, and creative concocting Toronto's "mad scientist" head coach Nick Nurse does, as Raptors president Masai Ujiri so eloquently put it, what makes Nurse so special are his people skills.
It's one thing to be brilliant. Take Raptors consultant and former assistant coach Nate Bjorkgren for example. Bjorkgren and Nurse came up through the coaching ranks with one another, scheming up gameplans in dungy basements well into the night. They're both brilliant coaches. Yet while Nurse has found almost unparalleled success in Toronto, posting a 170-113 record in four seasons, while Bjorkgren lasted just one year as the head coach of the Indiana Pacers before relationships soured and things went sideways.
Nurse gets it. It's why he's spending the first part of his All-Star break not in some sunny vacation destination with his family, but rather in beautiful Cleveland, OH., to watch Fred VanVleet, Precious Achiuwa, and Scottie Barnes compete in All-Star Weekend festivities.
“I’m really proud of those guys, all of them, for making it and representing us," Nurse said. "I just felt like I wanted to be there and support them. That’s it, really. I just think it’s a special moment for them, and I wanna be there to see it.”
Those things aren't missed by the players. Small acts of kindness go a long way over the course of an up-and-down 82 season when tensions can get high at any moment.
"It means the world. It just shows you how cool of a coach he is, and just the relationship. And for him to be traveling to Cleveland to support us, I think it says a lot about where we are as a franchise and just the relationship that we all have together," VanVleet said of Nurse's decision. "Definitely helps build that (chemistry), to have that support, have your head coach go out of his way to come show you some support and some love and be there in the flesh. He's one of the best coaches in the league for a reason, and I think things like that go a long way."
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