Move the mouse over the show manipulator tool, its on the left side of your screen in the toolbox (its the icon thats cut into 2 triangles), this ensures you get the manipulator that has been bound to your tool
Then create a nurbs sphere (create - > nurbs primitives -> sphere)
Then in the lft side look at the input section click makeNurbSphere1 the manipulator now appears because you have the right node selected.
PS: you could actually benefit form reading the manual