Things keep getting better and better for the Toronto Raptors' head coach Nick Nurse.
Nurse, in his first year as head coach for the Raptors, has led the franchise to a new height they've never reached before – the NBA Finals.
Just one day later, the New York Times' Marc Stein and NBA Insider Peter Yannopoulos have reported that Nurse is now 'the top choice' of Canada Basketball to become the head coach of the Canadian National Team at the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
A report earlier today from @PeteYannopoulos says Canada and Nurse have struck a deal. Canada Basketball declined comment Sunday, but league sources say they have pursuing the Raptors' coach since before the playoffs began
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 26, 2019
Stein also reported that, for reference, if the deal were to "come to fruition", Nurse will coach the Canadian National Team in addition to his Raptors duties – something similar to Team USA coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs.
Nurse has built up a strong résumé to qualify as head coach for the country's National Team. In his first season as head coach of the Raptors, he led the team to the second-best record in the NBA at 58-24. They responded to a 2-1 deficit in the Conference Semifinals to go on and defeat the Philadelphia 76ers in seven games.
When his team went down 2-0 to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Conference Finals, a team that finished with the best record in the NBA and did not lose three games in a row all season, Nurse led the Raptors to four consecutive wins to advance to The Finals for the first time in franchise history.
It's been one heck of a ride for the Iowa-native – he's worked in some capacity as a coach since 1989, bouncing around to multiple different leagues, schools and countries. He spent five seasons under Dwane Casey as an assistant coach for the Raptors before finally winning the head coaching job this past offseason.
He has some history as coach of a National Team – at the 2012 Olympics in London, Nurse served as an assistant coach for Great Britain under Chris Finch, an assistant coach for the New Orleans Pelicans. Great Britain failed to make it past the group stage, going 1-3 with losses to Spain, Brazil and Australia, while defeating China to earn the Nation's second ever Olympic Basketball victory.
Should Nurse officially become the head coach of the Canadian National Team, he'll have an extremely promising crop of players to make some noise at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China this Summer.