Toronto Raptors: Nick Nurse sued by former agent over breach of contract

Just when you think that the tsunami of bad luck that completely swallowed up the Toronto Raptors during their sabbatical in Tampa was on the verge of finally ending, head coach Nick Nurse, one of the bastions of stability on this team, was hit with a lawsuit.

Warren LeGarie, a prominent agent with a client list that includes current NBA head coaches like Rick Carlisle, former NBA coaches like George Karl, and front office executives like Neil Olshey, is suing Nurse in civil court for breach of contract, per USA Today.

“Defendant Nurse failed to abide by the terms of the representation contract, failed to pay Plaintiffs the amounts due under the representation contract, and failed to disclose to Plaintiffs the amount of the employment contract he entered into with the Toronto Raptors for the 2020-2021 through 2023-2024 NBA seasons,” the lawsuit reads.

LeGarie is claiming that Nurse, who is now represented by Andy Miller of Klutch Sports Group, denied him a chance to earn a commission on the parts of Nurse’s contract he negotiated, citing an agreement between the two that entitled the agent to a small percentage of those contracts.

Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse is coming to court.

The Raptors announced in September that they came to terms with Nurse on a new contract. The lawsuit insists that Nurse’s salary was adjusted to somewhere between $6 million and $8 million, while the four-year extension was worth $32 million over four years.

LeGarie claims that in his agreement to represent Nurse, he was entitled to a 3% commission on Nurse’s head coaching contracts and 4% on his assistant coach contracts. He also insists that Nurse did pay invoices on his contract from 2015-16 to 2018-19.

Per LeGarie’s complaint, in the spring of 2020, nine months after starting negotiations, Nurse “instructed Plaintiffs to not proceed in any further negotiation discussions.”

LeGarie’s attorney released a statement. Hunter Pyle claims that LeGarie’s “considerable experience and relationships in the NBA to help advance the career of Mr. Nurse as he progressed from an assistant to the head coach of the Toronto Raptors.”

It should be noted that LeGarie has represented Raptors GM Bobby Webster and former assistant coach Sergio Scariolo.

This likely will have no impact on Nurse’s status as the coach of the Raptors, who are looking to rebound after Nurse’s first poor season as in charge of the team. However, no one likes to have lawsuits hanging over their heads. Hopefully, this gets resolved in a timely manner and any issues between the two can be swiftly dealt with.