Jay Wright admits he was close to being the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers back in 2007-2011, during the time when his close friend Ed Stefanski was general manager of the team.
"As close as I had ever been," Wright told Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie on Thursday's 94WIP Morning Show. "It was classic Philly. Ed lived about five minutes from me, right here in Wayne...I knew him really well, I trusted him. The Sixers had a good team, if I'm ever going to do this—which every basketball coach wants to coach in the NBA—this would be the time to do it. You go to the NBA, you're probably going to get fired in three to four years anyway, just the way it happens in the NBA. And then what would I want to do when I get fired? Well I probably would want to go back to college and I just thought, well I'm here."
In regards to the current team, Wright is very impressed with the job new Sixers coach Nick Nurse has done so far.
"I think Nick Nurse is doing an amazing job and I could see Joel's mindset has become that of winning championships, he's matured as a player," Wright said. "You can tell by the way he is passing the ball and defending. I think Nick Nurse has got a big impact on his mindset and how he is approaching the game."