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TUALATIN, Ore. (AP) — Micah Nori was told by several NBA teams that he was their No. 2 choice to be head coach before the Portland Trail Blazers finally gave him his chance at No. 1.
A 28-year journey in the NBA culminated in Nori joining general manager Joe Cronin on Thursday at the Blazers’ practice facility for his introductory news conference.
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“I think for five of the interviews they said, ‘Micah you are our No. 2,'” Nori said, citing his recent experience interviewing for the New York Knicks in 2025. “‘You were phenomenal, but Mike Brown’s done it before. We’ve never seen you in that seat.’ When you slide over, everybody says it’s that 18 inches. Do I get discouraged? Absolutely not. You don’t stay in this thing for 28 years starting where I started (by getting discouraged).”
Nori, who spent the past five seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, had interviewed for multiple head coach vacancies, including the Knicks last year, the Chicago Bulls earlier this month and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2024. He began his NBA career as an intern for the Toronto Raptors in 1998.
After nearly three decades of coming to Portland with the visiting team, he is eager to be on the other side.
“After 28 years of coming out here and seeing all the red, seeing all the noise, it’s just very tough to play (here),” Nori said. “I’m super excited to be a part of it, and I can promise you that every single night — and I don’t like promises and guarantees — but we will play hard for 48-plus, we’re going to play smart for 48-plus and we will play together for 48-plus.”
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Nori addressed areas of improvement for the Blazers, including turnovers and 3-point percentage. He noted that next season will see the return of Damian Lillard, who is fourth on the list of the NBA’s all-time 3-point shooters. Lillard sat out last season with an Achilles injury.
The Blazers made the playoffs this season for the first time in five seasons under interim coach Tiago Splitter, who was hired this month by the Bulls. Splitter coached Portland to a 42-40 record and a five-game loss to San Antonio in the first round of the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/micah-nori-takes-over-trail-230707155.html
Author : ERIK GUNDERSEN
Publish date : 2026-06-25 23:07:00
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