Steve Nash, Nets agree to part ways after 2-5 start to NBA season | CBC Sports

Steve Nash is out as Brooklyn Nets head coach after a disappointing start and more controversy surrounding Kyrie Irving.

The Nets announced Tuesday they had parted ways with the Hall of Fame point guard, a day after they beat Indiana to improve to 2-5.

Nash, who hails from Victoria, made it to this season after Kevin Durant said he wanted him out this summer, but not much longer. The Nets have been another mess, with bad play on the court and bad headlines off it.

The biggest, again, was created by Irving, who posted a link to an antisemitic work on his Twitter page last week, drawing criticism from Nets owner Joe Tsai.

“Since becoming head coach, Steve was faced with a number of unprecedented challenges, and we are sincerely grateful for his leadership, patience and humility throughout his tenure,” general manager Sean Marks said in a statement.

“Personally, this was an immensely difficult decision; however, after much deliberation and evaluation of how the season has begun, we agreed that a change is necessary at this time.”

Nash led the Nets to a 92-62 record and the playoffs in both full seasons, his first as an NBA head coach. But they lost Irving and James Harden to injuries during their second-round loss to Milwaukee in 2021, then were a first-round flop last season after trading Harden during the middle of the season.

Most of their problems during the latter season were caused by Irving being unavailable for most of their home games because he refused to get vaccinated for the coronavirus, as mandated at the time in New York City.

Criticized team on weekend

Nash handled it all as best as possible, but apparently not good enough for his best player. Durant said he wanted to be traded this summer if the Nets didn’t fire Marks and Nash, but Tsai stood by them and Durant eventually pulled back his request.

But things started poorly this season and Nash gave some his hardest criticism of the team during his tenure after their loss to Indiana on Saturday night. Much of that was ignored because the focus was on Irving’s combative news conference defending his tweet, and the Nets beat the Pacers in the rematch Monday to end a four-game skid.

But Nash’s tenure ended anyway a day later, hours before Brooklyn is set to host Chicago.

“I’ve gotten to know Steve during his time in Brooklyn, and he is not one to shy away from challenges,” Tsai said. “My admiration and respect for him grew over time as he brought hard work and positive attitude to our organization every day, even in periods of exceptional storm surrounding the team.”

Nash averaged 14.3 points and 8.5 assists and shot 42.8 per cent from three-point range over 18 seasons as a star point guard with Phoenix, Dallas and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The eight-time all-star won back-to-back league MVP awards in 2005 and 2006.

He retired after the 2013-14 season and was inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.

Born in South Africa and raised in Victoria, Nash represented Canada internationally multiple times, most notably as the motor of the Canadian team that finished seventh at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.