While the entire basketball world was shocked by the Brooklyn Nets' hiring of Steve Nash as their new head coach, it was not the case for the legendary Don Nelson.
Nelson coached Nash for several years during their time together with the Dallas Mavericks, and back then, Nelson already had a hunch.
“I’m not surprised,” Don Nelson said of Steve Nash's hiring, via Eddie Sefko of mavs.com. “He’s always had the brain of a coach. The head coach was always full of confidence whenever he was on the floor running the team.”
“He’s always been a coach on the floor. He knows the game. And he’ll learn the rest as he goes along.”
Nelson admitted that he is not completely abreast with the Nets' current situation, but he knows enough to understand what's at stake for Nash in his new post.
“I haven’t paid that close attention to their (the Nets’) situation, but I know they have Durant,” Nelson said. “And anytime you hire a guy into that situation, expectations are going to be high. When you’re coming into a rebuilding team, you just have to get better or you get fired.
“In this situation, the expectations are going to be high, for sure.”
We see no lies here. While there are few more high-profile names that the Nets could have opted for, Nash undeniably brings the star power to Brooklyn. Then again, this does not make him immune from the scrutiny of both the front office and the fans.
Steve will have a long leash, but he will need to live up to the lofty expectations most have on him.
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