BROOKLYN—On Thursday, September 3, The Brooklyn Nets have hired hall of famer, Steve Nash to become their new head coach.
Nash has signed a four year deal with the Nets, which wasn’t expected since many did not believe Nash was interested in coaching.
On Brooklyn Nets.com, Nash stated in the Nets press release:
“Coaching is something I knew I wanted to pursue when the time was right, and I am humbled to be able to work with the outstanding group of players and staff we have here in Brooklyn. I am excited about the prospects of the team on the court as I am about moving to Brooklyn with my family and becoming impactful members of this community”.
Nash spent five years with the Golden State Warriors as a part-time consultant.
Warriors tweeted out from their Twitter account, “Thank you all your work and wisdom over the years”.
Nash hasn’t had experience with coaching but he was able to learn from someone who was in his position 2014.
Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr, tweeted, “Congratulations to @Steve Nash and thank you for all your work over the years with the @warriors. You are going to crush it in Brooklyn”.
Kerr didn’t have any coaching experience before accepting the head coaching job with the Warriors, but he has won three championships and created a dynasty.
Jacque Vaughn, who was the interim head coach for the Nets this past season, will remain on the coaching staff as an assistant coach.
In the past, players who became coaches for the first time on the NBA level did not do well. Jason Kidd and Derek Fisher were both fired after serving as head coaches for the Milwaukee Bucks(Kidd) and New York Knicks(Fisher) for one to three years. The two came into rebuilding situations.
However, Nash situation resembles Kerr’s. In 2014, the Warriors weren’t in a rebuild mode, they were missing a spark for their offense, and Nash and his Nets are far from rebuilding after making it to the playoffs two years in a row, and will have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to lead his team.
