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23 December 2025  6 min read

'We're all ears' - Nick Nurse wants to help British basketball grow

Langberg called it a ‘seminal moment’ for British basketball, with the two players a providing source of inspiration for the next generation of British players aspiring to play in the NBA or WNBA. 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by George S. Langberg (@georgelangberg)

Both came through the English basketball system, playing for their respective clubs, Newcastle Eagles and Myerscough College, in the National Basketball League and in the Elite Basketball Academy League, whilst honing their international careers through junior England and Great Britain representation, before NCAA D1 colleges - Princeton for Evbuomwan and Drexel, then Kentucky for Williams - came calling for their talent.  

Evbuomwan made it to the NBA as an undrafted free agent in 2023/24, snapped up by the Detroit Pistons initially, then playing in short-term spells for the Memphis Grizzlies and Brooklyn Nets, before signing a season-long two-way contact with the New York Knicks for 2025/26. 

Williams entered the League as draft pick number 46 for the Boston Celtics, also signing to a two-way deal. 

Amongst the next-gen of British basketball talent likely to be inspired by Evboumwan and Williams’ journey into the world’s renowned basketball league were seven British players – Emmanuel Ahamefule, Kelvin Clement Aigbogun, Ike Davids, Obinna Ekufu, Bo Guttormsdottir-Frost, Andrew Nwokolo and Irene Oboavwoduo – who attended this summer’s FIBA and NBA Basketball Without Borders (BWB) talented youth basketball camp in Manchester.  

Nick Nurse (centre) puts on a coaching clinic for British coaches at the Basketball Without Borders camp hosted in Manchester in August. Image - Mansoor Ahmed

All ears to growing the game in Britain

At BWB, and imparting his NBA Championship-winning knowledge to Europe’s best high-school-aged athletes, was Nick Nurse, who told the BBC that a handful of players at the camp had a ‘virtual guarantee’ of making it to the WNBA or NBA, with Williams a case in point, having attended a similar camp in Lativia in 2019. 

When Nurse spoke to Basketball England, he said he was ‘all-ears’ to helping the game grow in Britain. 

“Anything we can do to help grow the game here, we’re always all ears,” said the Philadelphia 76ers head coach, who won the British Basketball League twice with the Birmingham Bullets and Manchester Giants.  

“It's exciting that there's some possibilities coming through [the UK] in the future. They're going to start playing [NBA regular-season] games here, and who knows what else may happen with some of the talk that's going on. 

“It's a such a massive audience here, and there are so many people that deeply love the game. We just need a few more people to get the passion and we can grow it, and we'll help do so.”  

Nurse coached in the British Basketball League in the 90s and early noughties, winning two championships with the Birmingham Bullets and Manchester Giants. Image - Mansoor Ahmed

Learnt my craft in the British Basketball League

The two-time British basketball coach of the year first came to the UK as a player-coach signed to the Derby Rams.  

He would then go onto to coach the Bullets then the Giants to British titles in 1996 and 2000 respectively, as well as taking the reins at the London Towers and Brighton Bears, where he famously secured basketball icon and five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman on a three-game deal for the South Coast outfit. 

The coaching resumé Nurse built in England opened doors for career progression in North America, where he would be become a hero in Toronto by winning the franchise’s first NBA championship in his first season as head coach, beating the Golden State Warriors 4-2 in the 2018-19 Finals, before moving on to head up the 76ers.  

“I have super-fond memories of being here,” added Nurse.  

“I wouldn't be in the NBA without my stop here. [MInnesota Timberwolves coach] Chris Finch and I both spent a lot of years in the British basketball league learning our craft. I spent 11 years of my life here. That's a good chunk, like 20% of my life; [I’m] 20% British I always say.” 

Nurse won an NBA Championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2018/19. Image - Nickbarden

'I love basketball, music and education'

In an interview with the Guardian, one of Nurse’s former team-mates, Martin Ford, called his coaching ‘pedantic and precise’ and part of the reason he’s achieved so much success.  

Laughing, Nurse preferred to describe the implementation of his coaching style as coming from a place of love.  

Evidently, after he won a chip with the Raptors, he set up the Nick Nurse Foundation with a strong focus on sport, music and education; his raison d’etre for doing so, because he believes in giving back to the communities he has earned a living in.  

“I got the [basketball] bug a long time ago, and it's still thriving in there, right? To me, the competition, the camaraderie, fighting to win, watching players get better, coaching young kids, all those things; there are just so many things in the game to love. And that's what, I think, mostly makes a good coach. 

“I love basketball, I love music and I believe in education. [Through the Foundation] we give out scholarships. We put instruments in kids’ hands. We fund marching bands. When budgets get cut, the Foundation tries to keep some of those things not only alive but growing. I just love music, and I want kids to have the opportunity to play instruments if they want [to]. If they can't afford lessons or instruments, we try to help.” 

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Main image - Mansoor Ahmed