Sergio Scariolo: Nick Nurse at Real Madrid, lessons in the NBA, and future in Europe / News - Basketnews.com

Nick Nurse was close to becoming a coach at Real Madrid, Sergio Scariolo reveals. He discusses assistant coaches' sabotage, the unique cases of Carlos Delfino and Raul Lopez, youth basketball problems, his future in basketball, and more.

Credit: FIBA, D. Lukšta, AP – Scanpix | BasketNews illustration/D.Rumša Credit FIBA, D. Lukšta, AP – Scanpix | BasketNews illustration/D.Rumša

Sergio Scariolohas seen numerous stages of basketball development throughout his long coaching career, which spans multiple decades and dates back to the 1980s. He was there when the EuroLeague, as we know it now, was created. He will be there when the new stage of the competition will commence.

As mentioned in thefirst part of the interview, Scariolo transferred from Italy to Spain because he believed in the growth of Spanish basketball. At the same time, he saw the possible decline of Italian basketball and decided to step out of his comfort zone.

As the years went by, the Spanish clubs began to see it themselves. Consequently, a new wave of thought began to simmer in the minds of Spanish basketball executives. Unhappy with FIBA's governing, Spanish basketball clubs defected from the FIBA EuroLeague to create their own version of the tournament. Jordi Bertomeu was hired to become the league's CEO.

At the time, Scariolo was working as head coach of Real Madrid, one of the clubs that led the charge to form the modern EuroLeague. The Italian specialist coached in the very first modern EuroLeague game.

"I'm just happy and proud to have been one of the two coaches to be in the very first EuroLeague game ever. It was Real Madrid-Olympiacos in Madrid. It's a historical memory," he said in an interview withBasketNews.

"I remember that back then, Real Madrid executive president, rest in peace, Lorenzo Sanz, and his son, who was my manager in the basketball section, and he's still a very close friend of mine, Lorenzo Sanz Duran, were always willing to know my opinion. They were asking every time, basically. But it was their side, I was not involved in any managing tasks back then," Scariolo remembered. "I mean, I had to do it immediately after that, with the change of president when I had to also take charge of being the manager of the basketball section later on. But back then, [during] the building of the EuroLeague, I was just a coach."

Being the head coach and, later, the general manager of Real Madrid is a privilege few can put on their resumes. While Scariolo was there for only three seasons, a now-famous NBA coach could've easily joined the club during the period to work with Scariolo.

The currentPhiladelphia 76ershead coach,Nick Nurse, was very close to joining Real Madrid's coaching staff in 2001. A London Towers coach at the time, Nurse was an up-and-comer in the coaching circles, competing in the EuroLeague as well. As such, he drew attention from one of the most established organizations in European basketball.

However, the negotiations ultimately broke down, and the move never materialized.

"He was coaching in England. We were together a couple of times for a couple of games, and I was following him. His team was

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