Hall of Fame point guard Steve Nash has been hired as the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets. Nash, a two-time MVP who played 18 seasons in the NBA, signed a four-year deal to lead a Nets team headlined by Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
While the announcement came as a surprise, especially with rumors that Brooklyn wanted Gregg Popovich, Nash did work as a part-time consultant for the Golden State Warriors during their 2017 championship run, also Durant's first season with the team. Nash’s role as a player development specialist resulted in a healthy relationship with Durant.
Nash joins a lineage of guards hired to head coaching duties without any formal assistant experience, including Doc Rivers, Isiah Thomas, Mark Jackson, Jason Kidd and Derek Fisher.
Brooklyn fired coach Kenny Atkinson in March and interviewed interim coach Jacque Vaughn, who impressed with a less-than-stellar roster in the Orlando bubble, for the position. Vaughn will stay on the Brooklyn sideline as an assistant.
The Nets have been pegged as championship contenders with a healthy Durant and Irving, especially in the weaker Eastern Conference. With the addition of one of the best minds in basketball history at the helm, this three-headed snake could yield the first New York basketball championship since 1973.
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