Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Steve Nash appears to be joining the Golden State Warriors in a part-time player development role.
Nash has direct ties, of course, to current Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and assistant coach for player development Bruce Fraser — who was last seen in Las Vegas giving instruction to Harrison Barnes — from their tenures with the Phoenix Suns.
ESPN’s Marc Stein broke the story:
But it’s a natural fit for Nash to work with Warriors star guard Stephen Curry, given the longstanding comparisons between the two, as well as fellow Warriors All-Star Klay Thompson, with whom Nash shares an agent (Bill Duffy).
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Hall of Famer Don Nelson, who coached Nash in Dallas and was coaching the Warriors when Curry was drafted in 2009, was outspoken in his belief that the two shared a lot of similarities in their games from the moment he began studying Curry’s work at Davidson College.
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After a 19-year NBA career, Nash ranks third all-time in assists (10,335) behind only John Stockton and Jason Kidd. For eight straight seasons, from 2001-02 in Dallas through 2008-09 in Phoenix, Nash’s teams ranked No. 1 in the league in offensive efficiency.
Tim Kawakami interviewed Kerr today. Kerr said regarding the agreement, “It’s not official,” that it does not entail Nash being on the Warriors’ bench, and Kerr has not talked to the team about it yet.
In Kawakami’s interview, Kerr also said that Nash would not be asked to actually play for the Warriors this season.
Draymond Green and Stephen Curry reacted to the news on Twitter with “surprised eyes” emojis:
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Even former Warrior Baron Davis, whose agent Todd Ramasar used to work for Duffy, was impressed by the move:
Congrats to @SteveNash for the @warriors job. That's a dope position.
— Baron Davis (@Baron_Davis) September 16, 2015
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DubNation was more than happy with the new hire:
- ”Can’t wait for (Tim) Duncan to join the staff!” joked @rob1875.
- ”Expect another MVP year from Steph and more!!” said @Gooner_NL.
- Said BPM Smith, ”good match…Pass first mentality. Will help keep our guys playing selfless basketball.”
- Lana Carter yelped, “Batting 1000!! Yipee!!!”
In Kawakami’s interview, Kerr touched on the role Nash would play:
Bruce Fraser and Nash worked together in the summers like the last four years or so of Steve’s career. They trained together, so a lot of what Bruce has been working on with Steph is based on a lot of the principles that he and Nash have worked on over the years.
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So there’s already a feeling of a connection in that regard. And I think obviously it’ll only get better having Nash hands on. And that’s the plan.
Local writers suggested a few specifics of Nash’s potential role.
Steve Berman at Bay Area Sports Guy:
Rather than hiring someone to tutor a straight-A student, I believe this move was done to get an extra set of eyes on the entire offense, which I’m guessing will be the main focus in 2015-16. The 2014-15 Warriors could always depend on their defensive supremacy when they stopped passing quite as often or as crisply, and/or the shots stopped falling. The defensive talent, experience and drive was already there from previous seasons. They made drastic offensive improvements in their championship season, but there was no way Steve Kerr could expect his new team to become a fully realized cohesive unit in year one. Not after running such an elementary group of sets in previous seasons under Mark Jackson, who helped pull the franchise out of the muck by stressing defense and rebounding, but was happy to mimic the ’90s Knicks on offense.
Adam Lauridsen of the San Jose Mercury News’ FastBreak blog:
When Curry faced smothering pressure, there were stretches — even during the Finals — when he seemed unable to jump-start his teammates in the usual fashion. The offense bogged down, the turnovers crept up, and the effortless abandon with which the Warriors usually played seemed increasingly labored. Nash may have no magic solution to these problems, but my guess is his tutoring will help. Nash was a master, among other things, of using opponent’s overplays to create easy opportunities for his teammates. He understood space and movement on the court better than anyone, and used that understanding as an offensive weapon. When you imagine Curry’s ball-handling abilities applied to some of the tricks Nash used to use to flummox overplaying defenders, the possibilities are endless. Nash’s tutoring of Curry should have a positive spill-over to the rest of the team.
And Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area recalled Kerr’s compare-and-contrast description of Nash and Curry:
“He’s (Curry) a little different from Steve in that he really sees the game first as a shooter and as a flamethrower,” Kerr said. “Steve saw the game first as a passer and a playmaker, but the similarity is that each one has both the playmaking skills and the shooting skills. They can use one to enhance the other, and vice versa.
Meanwhile Bill Oram, Los Angeles Lakers reporter for the Orange County Register, lamented that the move probably “means the end of (Lakers point guard Jordan) Clarkson‘s studies with 2x MVP. Bummer for him & Lakers.”
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via Reuters)
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