By Shams Charania, Joe Vardon, Alex Schiffer and Eric Koreen
The Toronto Raptors met with Steve Nash to discuss their coaching job, league sources told The Athletic on Monday. Here’s what you need to know:
- The Raptors fired previous coach Nick Nurse on April 21 after the team failed to make the playoffs for the first time under him.
- Nash and the Brooklyn Nets agreed to part ways on Nov. 1, seven games into the 2022-23 season.
- Nash had a .584 win percentage (94-67 record) in two-plus seasons coaching the Nets.
The Toronto Raptors met with Steve Nash to discuss their head coaching job, sources tell me and @joevardon. Nash, a Canadian basketball legend, had a .584 record (94-67) in two-plus seasons coaching the Nets. Toronto has had a wide-ranging coaching search.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 22, 2023
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
What happened in Brooklyn?
Nash’s Nets tenure was wild. From the injuries to the vaccine mandate to the blockbuster trades, he coached with a vastly different hand than his peers. It didn’t help his coaching inexperience, as things such as timeout management and rotations never really improved during his two-plus seasons at the helm. He only had so much say in his staff, too. Would a calmer environment change that? The Nets were still a playoff team despite the variables. Could more stability and resources change his fortunes in his homeland? — Schiffer
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How Nash fits in Toronto
Obviously, Nash is a basketball legend in Canada for his MVP seasons with the Suns, his spectacular play with the national team and, for a short time, running the national team from an executive level. All of that says little about how he would fit as a coach in Toronto. Nash was brought to the Nets to bring together superstar talent, and that, in the end, was a failure. The Raptors don’t have championship expectations, but the on-court questions are serious: They have had one of the worst half-court offenses in the league over the last two years, and lack the shot-making capacity for an easy fix. Nash’s mind for running an offense would have to translate to x’s and o’s to make it work in Toronto. — Koreen
How does he compare to other candidates?
Well, the other candidates are plentiful, so it’s like comparing apples to razor blades. There isn’t much of a through line connecting Monty Williams, Adrian Griffin, JJ Redick, Nash, Kenny Atkinson, Becky Hammon and a series of some of the most high-profile assistant coaches in the league other than they could theoretically do the job.
As a player, Nash was known as one of the greatest teammates and leaders of all time, and perhaps without the prominent resumes and respective egos that he dealt with in Brooklyn, those qualities could shine through more in Toronto with a team that lacked stylistic cohesion all year long. — Koreen
Backstory
Nash, 49, grew up in British Columbia, served as captain for Team Canada at the 2004 Olympics in Sydney and spent seven years as general manager for Canada’s senior national team. He was a two-time NBA MVP and eight-time All-Star in his 18-year playing career.
Nash was a Kevin Durant-big-toe from coaching Brooklyn into the conference finals in 2021, and had the opportunity to coach Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving at the same time in Brooklyn — but injuries to all three players and the unrest they sowed in the locker room prevented that team from making any real title runs or even staying together. — Vardon
Required reading
- Steve Nash’s tenure with Brooklyn Nets was marred by challenges. Was it his fault?
- Why Nets moved on from Steve Nash so early in the season: ‘Because time is ticking’
(Photo: Matt Krohn / USA Today)