Over a decade ago, Nick Nurse and Mike Longabardi took a walk in Venice. There may even have been a boat ride through the Italian city’s iconic canals. They needed a break while working the Adidas Eurocamp, where about a half-dozen NBA assistant coaches helped prospects being scouted for the upcoming draft.

Yet even while immersed in such a pristine setting, the conversation between Nurse and Longabardi still kept shifting back to basketball. “Obviously, totally invested in his craft, in his profession,” Nurse recently told The Inquirer when asked to reflect on spending time with Longabardi at that camp. “Wants to talk hoops any time you want to talk it, that’s for sure. Really a kind of a hoops junkie and devoted his life to the game.”