KD backs Nash after 1st-round exit: 'I'm proud of his passion for us'

Kevin Durant wants Steve Nash back as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets next season.

Speaking after the Nets' season-ending 116-112 loss in Game 4 to the Boston Celtics, Durant said Nash is still the right person for the job, adding that much of the team's misfortunes shouldn't be traced back to the 48-year-old.

"Steve has been dealt a crazy hand the last two years. He's been having to deal with so much stuff as a head coach for the first time: trades, injuries, COVID," Durant said, according to the New York Post's Brian Lewis. "I'm proud of his passion for us."

Nash has coached the Nets since the start of the 2020-21 campaign. He's gone 92-62 in regular-season play since taking over but has managed a less remarkable 7-8 record in two postseasons. He also had to help Brooklyn overcome a number of obstacles, including a lengthy injury absence from Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving's sporadic availability this season, and the midseason trade of James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers.

"To have gone through everything that we went through this year, to have to say goodbye is tough," Nash said postgame, per CBS Sports. "We fought hard to stay together through all this stuff that happened, and like I said, I'm proud of the group."

Nash appears to maintain a strong relationship with Durant. The pair previously worked together while Nash was employed as a Golden State Warriors player development consultant. Durant played for the Warriors from 2016 to 2019.