Director of USA Basketball and chairman of the Basketball Hall of Fame Jerry Colangelo doesn't think new Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash should be getting bashed for getting the job despite having no coaching experience.

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith created headlines when he said Nash got hired by the Nets due to “white privilege.” Smith pointed out how more experienced Black coaches were bypassed for the Nets job.

While Colangelo wants to see more Black coaches in the NBA, he doesn't believe the Nets hired Nash because of white privilege.

“I don't think that's fair to anybody involved. I don't think it's fair to Steve, obviously,” Jerry Colangelo said,” via Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.

“He didn't create (the disproportionate number of Black coaches in the NBA). He was offered an opportunity, and he's a big boy, he understood what saying ‘Yes' might cause or create certain kinds of speculation. But he was willing to do that.”

Steve Nash has a close relationship with Nets superstar small forward Kevin Durant, so that is one of the reasons Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks hired the two-time MVP and Hall of Famer. Nash and Durant often trained together when KD was with the Golden State Warriors.

The Nets will likely be title contenders next season with Durant and Kyrie Irving leading the charge on offense. It's going to be very interesting to see how Nash does in this coaching role.

While he's one of the best point guards in NBA history, that doesn't guarantee Nash is going to have success as a head coach.