In the summer of 2020, NBA Hall of Fame point guard Steve Nash was in an enviable position.
He had just been hired to be the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, which meant coaching Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, two of the league’s most skilled players, both of whom had already won at least one championship.
But thus far, the Nets, despite being arguably the most talented team in basketball, have fallen well short of expectations.
Last year, they narrowly lost in the Eastern Conference semifinals to the eventual world champion Milwaukee Bucks, which seemed okay, given that the team wasn’t at full strength.
But now, Brooklyn has been swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs, and everyone is wondering what went wrong.
One of the things that went wrong is that the Nets hired Nash in the first place.
The Wrong Coach For The Wrong Situation
When he was hired by the Nets, Nash had no head coaching experience, and he had never even been any type of an assistant coach.
When a team is looking to win the world title right away, especially when it has a veteran roster, the answer isn’t to hire a newbie coach.
Yes, Nash had Mike D’Antoni, who was his head coach when he played for the Phoenix Suns back in the day, but it just wasn’t the same.
Perhaps the Nets’ biggest weakness the last two years has been defense, and both of them were ill-equipped at that end of the floor.
Nash was a pretty weak defender as a player, and D’Antoni has never shown the ability to coach defense or game plan successfully on the defensive end.
The two-time MVP is obviously very smart, but being a successful NBA head coach has more to do with simply being a tactician – it also has to do with being something of a psychologist.
He must get his team to believe, and bring and keep his team together regardless of any schisms and massage egos.
All four games versus the Celtics were winnable for the Nets, but Nash wasn’t able to get them over the hump.
Maybe he wasn’t the biggest culprit, but it’s also hard to argue that he did an outstanding job either.
“[Steve Nash] is not the right person for this job! You need someone in that seat that those players — especially Kyrie Irving because he’s not going anywhere — is going to respect and listen to, and Steve Nash is not that guy.”
—@KendrickPerkins 😳 pic.twitter.com/HiMuhuLrO1
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 26, 2022
It would’ve been much better for Nash to have been hired by a young team that had no real expectations, so that he would’ve had the luxury of learning on the job without any real pressure.
Trouble Between Nash And Irving?
When a star player on a team doesn’t respect his head coach, that team has a real problem on its hands.
Irving may not be easy to coach, but from day one, there were red flags when it came to his relationship with Nash.
📺@GottliebShow: "Kyrie Irving hasn't played a minute for Steve Nash or with Kevin Durant in a real basketball game and yet he's dictating terms and saying, 'We don't really need a head coach."
…Is there a more arrogant/obtuse dude in professional sports?" pic.twitter.com/yHrEZhEISM
— FOX Sports Radio (@FoxSportsRadio) October 1, 2020
A veteran coach would’ve had a better chance of getting off on the right foot with Irving, not to mention being the tactician the team needed.
There could be some viable options for the Nets if they do indeed decide to move on from Nash, such as Quin Snyder, Doc Rivers, or even Nick Nurse.
Perhaps one of them could fix what ails the team.
NEXT: Can The Nets Be Considered Finals Favorites Next Season?