Steve Nash doesn’t plan to return to bench, ‘I didn’t want to be a career coach’

Brooklyn Nets v New Orleans Pelicans

Nobody expected Steve Nash to become a coach when he was the surprise hire to take over an on-paper contender Brooklyn Nets in 2020.

Nash doesn’t expect to coach again, he told Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops.

“Coaching was a great experience, I didn’t want to be a career coach. I don’t think coaching was about to be my career. I’m coaching my kids, teaching them life. I earned the opportunity to choose, and that’s rewarding, There are always projects, affiliates, and partnerships. I always have something going on, I’m focused on my family.”

Nash is in Ljubljana, Slovenia, for Goran Dragic’s farewell game for charity. There he spoke to the media about his more than two seasons coaching a Nets team that, on paper, had the talent to win it all — Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, James Harden — but never made it out of the second round. Nash did not sound like someone looking to build on that experience in his next stop. Coaching in the NBA, particularly that Nets roster, was more about managing egos than Nash seemed to realize (partly because he was a relatively low-maintenance superstar himself).

“I hadn’t planned to coach, there was a unique situation in Brooklyn that knocked on my door. It was a quick transition. You deal with a different dynamic. A lot of it is managing personalities, between front offices, players, and agents. That’s a huge component of my job. All the dynamics, personalities, and power that the players hold nowadays…

“The easy part for me was being comfortable with my leadership role, leading by example. What is actually difficult from a coaching perspective is that it’s a totally different leadership. When you’re coaching you have to lead in smaller moments. I was surprised when I coached, you’re not in the team that much. You have five minutes with players before the game, at halftime, and after the game. Those are the only times when you address the team. I wanted to connect with every player individually. Building a culture and environment where people believe and see them be their best is important. You need to feel that you want them to become the best…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/steve-nash-doesnt-plan-return-145131664.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-08-24 14:51:31

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