The Philadelphia 76ers on Sept. 5 officially announced head coach Nick Nurse’s coaching staff for the upcoming 2023-24 season.
coaching staff ✔️. pic.twitter.com/OwZnbdanEL
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) September 5, 2023
Nurse’s coaching staff is headlined by Rico Hines and Bobby Jackson, both of whom are well respected around the league. The remainder of Nurse’s staff also possesses immense amounts of experience from all around the NBA.
“Assembling a great staff with a rich collection of experience was paramount on my to-do list this summer,” Nurse said, via the team’s press release. “I’m proud to have built many relationships in our league that have led me to feel as confident as I am in every member of this group. I can’t wait to get to work as we embark on our journey toward an NBA title.”
Bryan Gates, Assistant Coach
Gates possesses a ton of coaching experience both at the NBA level and in other leagues around the world, including stops in Florence and Beirut in the mid-2000s. He really made a name for himself as the head coach of the Idaho Stampede down in the NBA D-League, winning back-to-back D-League Coach of the Year awards in the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons. Both his time coaching in lesser-known leagues around the world and a very successful stint coaching in the D-League led to him moving up the ranks into the NBA.
Gates is entering his 15th season coaching in the NBA. His prior stops, all as an assistant coach, included the Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Pelicans, Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns. In his most recent stop with the Suns, his focus was on the defensive side of the ball. The Suns finished eighth in opponent’s points per game in 2021-22 and sixth in 2022-23. It is unclear what his exact role will be on the Sixers’ coaching staff, but it is expected to be a prominent one. The Sixers lured Gates away from joining the Dallas Mavericks’ coaching staff with the promise of a larger role.
Bobby Jackson, Assistant Coach
Jackson has a long history in the league, both as a player and a coach. Drafted in the first round in 1997, Jackson went on to have a 12-year playing career in the NBA. He spent most of his career as a reserve player, with his best season being in 2002-03 as a member of the Kings. During that season, he averaged a career-high 15.2 points per game and was awarded NBA Sixth Man of the Year.
After his long playing career, Jackson transitioned over to the coaching ranks. He has had two coaching stints with the Kings, first as an assistant coach from 2011-13 and then as an assistant/player-development coach from 2018-21. In between, he served as a player development coach in Minnesota from 2013-15. Most recently, he spent the last two seasons as the head coach of the G League’s Stockton Kings. Last season, he led them to a league-best 25-7 record. Jackson should have a prominent role, likely centered around player development, on Nurse’s coaching staff.
Rico Hines, Assistant Coach
Hines is a carryover from Nurse’s coaching staff on the Toronto Raptors last season. He has a storied coaching career, where he made stops as an assistant with the Golden State Warriors, the St. John’s Red Storm at the collegiate level, the G League’s Reno Bighorns/Stockton Kings, the Sacramento Kings and the Raptors. Hines specializes in player development, spending most of his career working in that area. He also organizes the Rico Hines Runs during the offseason, where players from around the league often come to train in scrimmages against each other. Between Hines and Jackson, the Sixers appear well equipped in the player development department.
Matt Brase, Assistant Coach
Brase possesses both a wealth of prior coaching experience as well as a small prior connection with Nurse. He spent 2022-23 as the head coach of the Pallacanestro Varese in the Lega Basket Serie A. Before that, he spent the 2021-22 season as an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers. Most of his coaching experience came in the Houston Rockets organization. His history with Nurse consists of being an assistant coach on Nurse’s staff in the 2012-13 season with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers down in the D-League. In 2015, he then was promoted to head coach of the Valley Vipers, a position he held until becoming an assistant coach for the Rockets in 2018.
Coby Karl, Assistant Coach
Karl, the son of Hall of Fame coach George Karl, earned a promotion onto the Sixers’ coaching staff after a very successful stint as head coach of the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats. From 2021-2023, Karl led the Blue Coats to a 42-22 record. With Karl at the helm, the Blue Coats won their first ever G League championship last season. He has prior chemistry with Paul Reed and Jaden Springer, both of whom played under him in Delaware. Before his time with the Blue Coats, his coaching experience consisted of a five-year stint as head coach of the Los Angeles D-Fenders down in the G League (the D-Fenders are now known as the South Bay Lakers).
Mike Longabardi, Assistant Coach/Delaware Blue Coats Head Coach
Longabardi comes to the Sixers with a lot of coaching experience already under his belt. His coaching career began with stints as an assistant at Towson, Lafayette and a few other colleges throughout the mid-1990s. He then became an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets in 2003, a position he held for four seasons. Throughout his lengthy coaching career, he made stops as an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics (2007-13), Suns (2013-15), Cleveland Cavaliers (2016-19), Washington Wizards (2019-21), Kings (2021-22) and Atlanta Hawks (2022-23). He is a defensive specialist, with his time in Phoenix and Cleveland being devoted to coaching on that end of the floor. His time in the Sixers organization, at least for this season, is going to be spent coaching the Blue Coats in the G League.
Doug West, Assistant Coach
West, a Pennsylvania native, is joining Nurse’s coaching staff after a 12-year playing career in the NBA followed by a lengthy coaching career. Fans could be familiar with West due to his four-year collegiate playing career at Villanova, when he averaged 14.8 points per game. He currently ranks fifth in school history in points scored (2,037). The Timberwolves selected him in the second round of the 1989 NBA draft. West would go on to average 9.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists at the NBA level. After retiring as a player in 2001, he journeyed around as a coach at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. He has a past connection with Nurse, coaching under him as an assistant for the Valley Vipers in the D-League in 2012-13.
John Corbacio, Assistant Coach/Head Video Coordinator
Corbacio is another carryover from Nurse’s coaching staff in Toronto. He first joined the Raptors’ organization as a player development coach and video coordinator for their G League affiliate, Raptors 905, in 2016. It did not take him long to start working his way up through the organization. He became the assistant video coordinator for the Raptors in the 2018-19 season. A year later he was promoted to head video coordinator as well as becoming an assistant coach. He remains in that position for the Sixers beginning this season.
Fabulous Flournoy, Assistant Coach/Player Development
Flournoy brings a wealth of basketball experience from both internationally and in the NBA. He spent 23 years, from 1996-2019, as a player and coach in the British Basketball League (BBL). After a long tenure in the BBL, he joined Nurse’s coaching staff in Toronto as an assistant video coordinator and player development coach. He spent four years in Toronto before following Nurse over to Philadelphia.
Jason Love, Assistant Coach/Player Development
Love, a Philadelphia native, is heading into his fifth season as an assistant coach for the Sixers. He was originally brought in as a skill development associate before eventually being promoted to skill development coach. Before his time with the Sixers, the 36-year-old played professional basketball internationally from 2011-18.
TJ DiLeo, Player Development Associate Coach
DiLeo, the son of former longtime Sixers coach and executive Tony DiLeo, is entering his third season with the Sixers organization. He joined the organization in 2021, serving on the player development staff. Before joining the Sixers, DiLeo played professional basketball in Germany for the Giessen 46ers (2013-16) and Telekom Baskets Bonn (2016-21).
Terrel Harris, Player Development Associate Coach
Harris comes to the Sixers after a playing career that included winning an NBA championship with the Miami Heat in the 2011-12 season. His NBA career was comprised of 42 games in which he averaged 2.3 points and 1.8 rebounds in 10.8 minutes per game. His playing career also included time in France, Germany and Israel. He now is starting his coaching career with the Sixers as a player development associate coach.
Toure’ Murry, Player Development Associate Coach
Murry had a lengthy 10-year playing career between the NBA and different teams internationally. During his NBA career, he spent time with the New York Knicks, Utah Jazz and Wizards. With the Knicks in 2013-14, he played as a reserve in 51 games and averaged 2.7 points, 0.9 rebounds and 1 assist. His coaching career began last season as a player development coach for the Valley Vipers in the G League.
Reggie Redding, Player Development Associate Coach
Redding is entering his third year as a player development coach for the Sixers. Prior to his coaching career, the Philadelphia native spent 10 years playing professional basketball overseas. His most productive season came in 2014-15 with Alba Berlin where he averaged 12.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.
Kareem Thawer, Assistant Video Coordinator
Thawer just recently got into coaching, starting his NBA coaching career in the Raptors’ video department last season. Prior to last season, he was an assistant coach at the University of Toronto and for the Guelph Nighthawks in the Canadian Elite Basketball League.
The Sixers, led by Nurse’s revamped coaching staff, open up training camp on Tuesday on the campus of Colorado State University. Their first preseason action is against the Boston Celtics on Oct. 8.
