Masai Ujiri clowns the Lakers for thinking they have a chance to land Nick Nurse - Lakers Daily Masai Ujiri clowns the Lakers for thinking they have a chance to land Nick Nurse - Lakers Daily
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Masai Ujiri clowns the Lakers for thinking they have a chance to land Nick Nurse

Jeanie Buss and Rob Pelinka

There’s been a ton of noise around the idea of Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse possibly landing the Los Angeles Lakers’ open head coach slot.

However, Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri crushed the possibility of that happening by clowning the Purple and Gold.

The Lakers terminated Frank Vogel following the end of the regular season.

Vogel, 48, coached the Lakers for three seasons. He led the Lakers to a title in his first season with the team, guiding them through a crazy campaign before winning a championship in the NBA bubble in Orlando, Fla. in 2020.

However, the Lakers were bounced out of the playoffs in the first round by the Pheonix Suns in 2021.

Of course, the team didn’t even make the postseason this year. The Lakers finished the season with an awful 33-49 record and were the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference. Vogel reportedly had an acrimonious relationship with 2017 MVP Russell Westbrook.

As for Nurse, he led the young Raptors to the playoffs this year and helped them swipe a couple games from the star-studded Philadelphia 76ers in the first round.

Nurse, 54, also won a championship with the Raptors during his first year coaching the team. The general oversaw two-time Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, one of the trickiest superstars to manage, during the 2019 title turn.

Nurse, who has coached the Raptors for the past four seasons, has gathered a regular season record of 186-122. Although Nurse’s current Raptors team doesn’t have the talent to compete for a title soon, he recently made it clear that he does not want to leave the team for the Lakers.