Durant 'excited' to learn from Nash in new setting

Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant is relishing the opportunity to work with newly hired head coach Steve Nash.

"I'm excited. Any time a former player gets a job as a coach in the league, I'm excited because their level of knowledge for the game runs deep, especially experiencing it on the floor," Durant said during a recent appearance on "The Old Man and the Three" podcast. "His insight for the game, his communication, how he communicates the game of basketball, it's definitely going to help me as a player develop and it's going to help the rest of our team.

"And our relationship started from him playing, me admiring him as a player, and playing against him and competing against him and finally getting a chance to work out with Steve probably, I want to say, seven or eight years ago. Understood how his mind works for the game and every time I'm in the gym with him I'm always just like a sponge."

Nash and Durant spent time together on the Golden State Warriors, with whom the former began working as a player development consultant in 2015, a year before Durant joined in free agency.

The pair's relationship was reportedly a key factor in Nets general manager Sean Marks choosing Nash to lead the club despite the 46-year-old possessing no head coaching experience.

The two also crossed paths several times on the court, squaring off for the first time as players in November 2007 before a 20th and final career meeting in March 2013, according to Stathead.

"I'm looking forward to this, man," Durant added. "I always feel like I'm a student of the game and somebody who's experienced so much and played in different eras, I'm looking forward to him teaching me some more things about it as well."