The Brooklyn Nets named Steve Nash their head coach in early September, but according to Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, it’s more of just a title than an actual role.
“I don’t really see us having a head coach,” Irving said on Durant’s new podcast, “The Etcs.” “KD could be a head coach, I could be a head coach [some days].”
Durant followed up by agreeing with Irving, calling it a “collaborative effort” and naming assistant and former interim head coach Jacque Vaughn as someone that could fill the role any given day.
Nash, who was a shock hire, said when he was named coach of the Nets he was especially excited to work with Irving, calling the star point guard a “savant with the basketball.” Irving, though, said on the podcast he doesn’t know Nash that well, but is looking forward to working with him.
“Steve is great, and I have a relationship with him that’s going to build over time, bro,” Irving said. “Steve don’t know me from anything he heard or he’s heard someone else. We’ve worked out one time in 2014, but it’s grown as just a respectful relationship from afar. I saw him at the Hall of Fame two years ago, gave him a big hug and now he’s the head coach. And I think it’s also going to change the way we see coaches.”
“I want somebody that’s gonna understand that I am a human being first, I serve my community first, and then basketball is something I do every day because I love,” Irving said. “We always heard and saw how great Nash was as a player, but also when you get to know him as a person, you understand why he can coexist with us. We don’t need someone to come in with their coaching philosophy and change everything we’re doing.”
Durant has a strong relationship with Nash, forged during his time with the Golden State Warriors where Nash was a player development coach.
“I think having Steve there and collaborating with our floor general every day is only gonna yield good results for our scorers like myself and Taurean [Prince], Caris [LaVert] and Spencer [Dinwiddie],” Durant said. “Them having that relationship I think is gonna be key for us going forward.”
Durant also acknowledged the unique leadership dynamic within the Nets, specially with him, Irving and Nash.
“I think a lot of people may question our leadership, overall or just us two,” Durant said. “But when me and Ky talked about being coached every single day, I think that’s leading by example and I think a lot of our teammates are gonna follow that.”
With Durant recovering this season from a torn Achilles, the duo hasn’t played together officially yet, but they talked at length about their on court and off court friendship. Which also included Durant confirming what many had speculated after their infamous hallway meeting at the 2019 All-Star Game was caught on video.
“Yes, especially after the All-Star Game video where they caught us in the hallway,” Durant said. “That’s when it was solidified that we were going somewhere. They didn’t know it for a fact where it was, but it was somewhere.”
It’s possible Durant was being sarcastic as a way to rib the media, because both he and Irving took exception to the speculation around the video at the time.
“It’s just crazy. This is the stuff that just doesn’t make the league fun. It’s two people having a conversation,” Durant told reporters in 2019. “It’s a video of somebody assuming what we are talking about right? It’s a video of me and one of my best friends talking. And then it turns out to be a dissection of a free-agency meeting? That’s what disconnects me from all that s—.”