The NBA’s ‘Ted Lasso’ Lands in Portland

Portland has found a new head coach in Micah Nori, the highly regarded Minnesota Timberwolves assistant who replaces Tiago Splitter. Splitter had led the team to the playoffs before leaving for Chicago, after a summer dominated by reports about the team’s reluctance to pay him.

Nori is not a household NBA name, but the article says he is one of the league’s most respected basketball minds outside the head-coaching ranks. His coaching career began in 1988, when he had been considering a job teaching physical education at a local high school. A close friend, Butch Carter, had just been named Toronto’s coach and invited him to join the organization.

From there, Nori worked his way up from low-level assistant and scout to assistant coach. He stayed with Toronto for several years, joined Sacramento in 2013, then moved on to Denver and Detroit. In 2021, he became the Timberwolves’ top assistant. Players have repeatedly praised his effect on team chemistry, with Nickeil Alexander-Walker saying, “A guy like Micah connects the players and the rest of the coaches, and helps that bond grow. He brings a lot of happiness and life to practices.”

Fans also nicknamed him “the NBA’s Ted Lasso” after he gave several playful, unusual quotes in interviews. Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said they bonded over a shared sense of humor and similar ideas about the game, describing Nori’s approach as free-flowing and fast. Finch recalled Nori’s line, “If the clock is running, so are we,” and said Nori is excellent at the small details of a game, including substitutions, end-of-quarter decisions, maximizing defensive possessions late in games, and knowing when to foul. The article notes that this style could fit Portland’s current roster well, and adds that Nori has already served as an acting NBA head coach, filling in during Finch’s injury-disrupted playoff run in April 2024.