With the Brooklyn Nets’ latest hiring of Steve Nash as Head Coach, Boston Celtics head man Brad Stevens has been bestowed yet another potential obstacle towards winning Coach of the Year.
For years, Boston Celtics head man Brad Stevens has been revered as one of the best coaches the league has to offer. Boasting an overall NBA record of 318-246 (.564 winning percentage), and guiding the Cs to six consecutive postseason appearances, his track record certainly backs his illustrious status.
That said, despite his ample successes, to date the only accolades he truly has to show for his efforts are his three Coach of the Month honors and his 2017 All-Star Game Head Coach selection. Since entering the league, Stevens has found his name oft in the running for the NBA’s Coach of the Year award, yet has finished no higher than third in the polls.
Even this season, despite him guiding his team to the fifth-best record in the league after a bevy of roster shakeups last offseason, dealing with injuries throughout the campaign, and behind a ringing endorsement from fellow C.O.Y nominee Frank Vogel, Stevens still only managed to finish seventh in the running for the prestigious award.
Time and time again it appears as though the seventh-year head coach has been usurped by another talented head honcho for the award. Now, with the Brooklyn Nets’ decision to bring on Hall of Fame point guard Steve Nash to serve as skipper for their talented bunch of ballers, it presents yet another potential obstacle for the Boston Celtics coach to finally nab the award.
Yes, we are completely aware of the fact that Nash has zero experience in such a role on a team. We are also aware of the wonky turnouts for former NBA players that jumped into head coaching roles — results span from successes like Boston Celtics legends Bill Russell and Larry Bird to LA Lakers great Magic Johnson and Pistons’ icon Isiah Thomas.
All things considered, however, we are under the impression that Nash has all the potential to prove to be an unbelievable hire for Brooklyn and, in turn, a sensational overall coach.
With his jump from player to clipboard wielder, its been a popular fad for fans and media outlets alike to compare this current situation to that of fellow Hall of Famer, and former Nets Head Coach, Jason Kidd‘s from back in 2013.
Kidd, too, is revered as one of the greatest point guards to ever live and, like Nash, was signed on by Brooklyn to be the team’s Head Coach despite having zero experience. The justification for both hires is that they possess unbelievable basketball minds and, for the majority of their playing careers, served as the “coach on the court” for their respective teams, running plays, reading the opposing team’s schemes, serving as the primary leader, etc.
For Kidd, his stint in Brooklyn lasted just one season, finishing with a 44-38 record and a second-round exit, only to be traded that offseason to the Milwaukee Bucks where he’d only last for three and a half years prior to his 2017-18 mid-season termination.
In the Houdini’s humble opinion, don’t expect the same outcome for Steve Nash’s tenure in New York’s second favorite borough.
For starters, his crop of talent is far superior to that in which Kidd had at his disposal. With Kevin Durant expected to be fully healthy at the start of the 2020-21 season, coupled with the likes of fellow All-World point guard talent Kyrie Irving and a plethora of other sensational ballers — Spencer Dinwiddie, Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, etc. — the rookie coach will have an unbelievable roster to work with right out of the gates.
As for Nash’s promise in his new role, let’s not forget that he was a pioneer in how the modern-day NBA predominantly functions. One could go as far as to argue he was Stephen Curry before being Stephen Curry was “cool”.
While running Mike D’Antoni‘s “seven seconds or less” offense with the Phoenix Suns, Nash proved that a combination of small ball and high-octane 3-point shooting could be an unbelievably successful way to play the game. In his role as the lead dog in such a scheme that he fully understood, the point guard went on to win two consecutive league MVP awards, was named to seven All-NBA teams, and was selected to eight total All-Star games.
His knowledge of the offense that would help mold the modern-day style of play is an unbelievable trait to have heading into his first stint as head coach.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has even gone on the record to state that his own style was influenced by D’Antoni’s Suns, where he served as General Manager from 2007-2010, saying:
"“I think our philosophy of pace and three-point shooting was something that I definitely agreed with and Mike had sort of set the tone in terms of the way he was playing with his teams…”"
With this, as we all know, Kerr has found a great deal of success serving as Golden State’s head man, leading the franchise to five straight NBA Finals appearances, winning three, while also receiving individual accolades such as 2016’s NBA Coach of the Year and being selected as the Western Conference’s All-Star Game Head Coach in 2015 and 2017.
If a man who served as an executive and GM for those Phoenix Suns teams can attribute some of his success to Mike D’Antoni’s style, then why can’t Nash, the man who was tasked with actually executing said scheme, reach such great heights as well?
The potential Brooklyn’s new hire has heading into his first coaching job is unbelievable. Being that he will reside in the Atlantic Division, Boston Celtics fans will get many opportunities to see him go up against their favorite ball club.
Though it’s obviously a bit premature, with his insane basketball IQ coupled with the roster he will be blessed with, candidacy for the NBA’s Coach of the Year award at some point down the road does not seem too far fetched and, honestly, neither does eventually winning it.
With the fact that Brad Stevens only finished seventh this season and was completely robbed back in 2018, at this point I wouldn’t be surprised if the talented head coach never winds up nabbing the Red Auerbach Trophy.
Nash, on the other hand… well, his journey’s only just beginning.