NBA: Brooklyn Nets spring surprise in hiring Hall of Famer Steve Nash as coach
- Hall of Famer makes the jump to head coach after a stellar career as one of the NBA’s most entertaining and successful point guards
- Two-time MVP in charge of a team that hopes to have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving together next season
Steve Nash was one of the NBA’s most entertaining point guards, the engineer of a high-scoring team that helped usher in a new era of basketball.
Now the Brooklyn Nets want to see what he can do as a coach. The Nets hired Nash on Thursday, putting the Hall of Famer in charge of the team that hopes to have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving together next season.
“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,” Nash said.
Nash, two-time MVP as the playmaker of the Phoenix Suns teams under Mike D’Antoni that piled up points and 3-pointers long before they became the norm in the NBA, had been a player development consultant with Golden State, where he worked with Durant.
D’Antoni, now coaching Houston, said he texted Nash when he heard the news. “Jumping from the frying pan into the fire,” D’Antoni said.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr was the general manager in Phoenix for part of Nash’s time and took elements of the Suns’ system in winning three NBA titles. He thanked and congratulated Nash with a message on Twitter.