Nick Nurse has no problem letting one of his players duck out of a meeting to take a call from one of his children.
The Toronto Raptors are two weeks into what could be an unprecedented three-and-a-half-month road trip, and Nurse knows that some of the most difficult challenges his players will face are loneliness and boredom.
Nurse knows family time is precious.
"It's really another part of the puzzle, and it's a big one," the Raptors coach said on a Zoom call Tuesday from Naples, Fla. "It starts with conversation, when you're bumping into Fred (VanVleet) or Kyle (Lowry), and you're asking them how are the wife and kids, and what are they doing, and when was the last time you talked to them.