Getty Steve Nash, left, helped Stephen Curry win an MVP award while working with the Warriors.
Steve Nash is the newest head coach of the Brooklyn Nets and everybody has an opinion.
“I feel bad for my peers who put the time in,” former Houston Rockets point guard, Steve Francis told rising social media stars, Joy De’Angela and Da Kid Gowie yesterday on “Unrestricted.”
“90% of the NBA is African American. The guys like Steve Nash, once he’s in, he’ll be like some of the other guys in the NBA. Once they get in, they’ll all be tossed around without any downgrade in their position.”
An eight-time NBA All-Star, Nash is a decorated Canadian basketball player. The 13th pick in the 1996 NBA Draft out of Santa Clara, Nash is a seven-time All-NBA selection and was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player twice while playing for the Phoenix Suns.
Nash was also a star on the Dallas Mavericks alongside Dirk Nowitzki from 2000-2003. The duo propelled the Mavs to 53, 57, and 60 wins, respectively. The farthest that duo went was a Western Conference Finals appearance during the 2002-2003 season where they’d lose to eventual NBA Champion, San Antonio Spurs.
Now a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, Steve Nash retired with a career average of 14.3 points, 4 rebounds and 8.5 assists per contest in two stints with the Mavs, Los Angeles Lakers and in two stints with the Phoenix Suns. Still Steve Francis has his reservations.
“It’s not about how good they’re going to be,” Francis told the “Unrestricted” show’s hosts.
“Everybody knows that. I’m just saying, in these times we’re seeing a discrepancy in sports. Despite the players playing through all of these things, to me, it’s just another slap on the hand to everybody.”
A three-time NBA All Star and NBA co-Rookie of the Year with Elton Brand in 2000, Francis was the second overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft out of the University of Maryland. “The Franchise” averaged 18.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.0 assists in stints the Orlando Magic, New York Knicks and in two stints with the Houston Rockets.
Nash begins next season as the commander and chief of a Brooklyn Nets team that lists Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving as their stars.
Last offseason, Durant and Irving teammed up with DeAndre Jordan to form a superteam with Cari LeVert in the borough of Brooklyn.
GettyKevin Durant will join Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn.
Durant didn’t play this season after injuring his right Achilles during Game 5 of the NBA Finals last season against the Toronto Raptors.
Irving and Jordan played parts of this season before shutting it down due to injury. Brooklyn with a seventh place finish in the NBA’s Eastern Conference standings and would eventually be swept by the Toronto Raptors in Round 1 of the NBA Playoffs.
Nash’s connection with Kevin Durant was forged during Nash’s stint as a consultant for the Warriors. Irving competed against Nash when Irving was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Nash was toward the end of his career with both the Suns and the Lakers. Irving has also participated in Nash’s kickball tournaments with Irving in year’s past.
While Steve Francis was vocal about the Nets’ hiring. Others were less diplomatic. “I know that Kyrie and KD have both signed off on this,” ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith said on Thursday.
“I know they both support this move. But I am thinking about a champion that is Ty Lue, passed up. I am thinking about a guy that built the foundation of the Golden State Warriors, Mark Jackson, passed up. I’m thinking about the years that Sam Cassell has served as an assistant, first in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., and now with the Los Angeles Clippers, passed up. And it’s for a guy—my God, one of the best guys you could possibly meet in your life and may do a fantastic job, but a guy who has no experience whatsoever.”