Report: Bobby Jackson to join Nick Nurse’s new Sixers staff

Nick Nurse’s new coaching staff in Philadelphia is starting to come together.

On Sunday, Marc Stein reported a few tidbits in his latest set of notes on the NBA, including that Bobby Jackson is joining Nurse’s staff as an assistant coach.

Jackson played 12 seasons in the NBA from 1997-2009, spending six of those years as a guard for the Kings. He had plenty of productive years and won Sixth Man of the Year in 2002-03, averaging a career-high 15.2 points and 3.1 assists per game. Jackson originally got started as an assistant coach with Sacramento from 2011-2013, and most recently served as the head coach of the Kings’ G League team, the Stockton Kings.

Stein also added in his article that Raptors developmental coach Rico Hines “is a candidate to join [Jackson]” in heading to Philly.

There has already been some buzz about this. For instance, Michael Grange of Sportsnet reported that “there is a growing expectation that Hines — who the Raptors hired last season to re-energize their player development program — is a strong candidate to join Nurse’s staff”. However, the reporting surrounding Hines has been a little more speculative rather than concrete so far. Hines’ potential to join the Sixers is clearly something to keep an eye on, though.

Other members of Doc Rivers’ old staff have unsurprisingly been leaving in recent days as well. Sam Cassell, perhaps the most notable loss, is rejoining the Celtics as an assistant under Joe Mazzulla. Dan Burke, who always played a key role in shaping the Sixers’ defense, is expected to join the Pistons.

We’ll keep you informed of other inevitable coaching hires in the coming weeks as Nurse’s full staff takes shape.