In hiring Hall of Fame point guard Steve Nash as the team's head coach Thursday, Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks believes he's installed a leader who fits what star players Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are looking for on the sidelines.
"They wanted a great communicator," Marks told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. "They wanted someone they would respect. ...
"A lot of this relationship will be built off the court. A lot of what I know of Steve is as the ultimate communicator. That's what the guys asked for ... a communicator ... and that's what they got."
Nash and Durant have a prior professional relationship, of course; after Nash's playing career ended in 2013-14, the 46-year-old worked as a player development consultant with Durant's former team, the Golden State Warriors.
Owing to his stature as a two-time MVP and his reputation as one of the great on-court leaders of his generation, Nash should have little trouble connecting with his players in Brooklyn, according to his former boss in Golden State.
"Steve Nash has the ability to walk out onto the court and earn the immediate respect of Kevin Durant or Steph Curry or Klay Thompson - and there aren't too many people in the world who can do that," Warriors president Bob Myers told Wojnarowski. "More than that, though, he can communicate with them effectively and efficiently."
