Where does Nick Nurse rank among NBA coaches?

The “Hall of Famers” tier:

• Steve Kerr – Golden State Warriors
• Gregg Popovich – San Antonio Spurs

The numerous achievements by both these coaches are astounding. The accolades from each are enough to spread the joy to at least eight if not ten other coaches, but, of course, these two hogged a lot of it over their coaching tenures. Yet, it is nonetheless well-deserved.

Kerr and Popovich have one giant similarity, they both adapt their coaching to the roster that is available. That, in turn, provides championships. It’s so apparently obvious that it is sometimes appalling to see other coaches fail in this regard.

So, it must be much harder than it looks.

Kerr and Popovich have enjoyed talent falling into their hands, yes. They were once in the “Right Place, Right Time” tier. But, they cultivated their talent into numerous championships and stood firm in the face of catastrophe–remember the 2013 Finals fallout for the Spurs and the 2016 Finals fallout for the Warriors?–to rebound unlike we’ve seen before.

Those rebounds alone should include them in this tier, but they’ve outdone themselves over and over again. It is unlikely that we’ll ever truly see a “losing” team from both these coaches even in developing years. They are too smart, too adaptive, and too stubborn to do so.

In the end, that is what makes them Hall of Famers.