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The association tends to be a cutthroat environment that radiates with a lot of competitive energy. There are rare times that a lighthearted moment shines, but it looks like the Portland Trail Blazers are set to have an insane amount of helpful positivity in the coming years. It's largely because they just hired Micah Nori, the former Minnesota Timberwolves assistant who was dubbed the 'Ted Lasso' of the NBA.
How Trail Blazers HC Nori became the NBA's Ted Lasso
The Trail Blazers have just handed over their head coaching reins to Micah Nori, per Shams Charania of ESPN. He has been an assistant coach in the NBA since his start with the Toronto Raptors back in the 2009-10 season. Since then, he has developed quite a reputation. Aside from being a great player development staff with great X's and O's know-how, he is also known as the Ted Lasso of the NBA.
See, Coach Nori has been bouncing around the NBA for quite a bit. He stayed with the Raptors from 2009 to 2013. After that, a short stint with the Sacramento Kings fell into his lap from 2013 to 2015. The Denver Nuggets then swooped in to get him as he stayed in Colorado from 2015 up until 2021. Coach Chris Finch eventually got him to become the lead assistant coach of the Timberwolves; his tenure there lasted from 2021 to 2026.
Amid all of the moves Coach Nori made and teams he worked with in the NBA, there was something that remained constant. He had a very infectious positive spirit, which has impacted players well. His coaching style? It all revolves around having deep connections with his players while also being truthful. Something that he shares with Ted Lasso, the famously optimistic soccer coach played by Jason Sudeikis.
— BalloftheWild (The Artist fka /r/Timberwolves) (@BalloftheWild) December 19, 2023NBA fans started noticing the similarities even more when he started dropping hilarious quips loaded with pop culture references during halftime interviews. Some of the most hilarious lines he dropped while being a Timberwolves assistant were: "We got to treat Desmond Bane like you do the elf on a shelf on Christmas morning. You’ve got to find him," and "Our paint defense was like 7/11, open 24 hours."
Coach Nori is a rare gem that the Trail Blazers will be able to get. He's the perfect person to aid in the development of their young guns like Donovan Clingan, Scoot Henderson, and Deni Avdija. The Ted Lasso of the league is also more than capable of helping out Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday compete for a Larry O'Brien trophy during the late stages of their careers.
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