Report: Steve Nash close to becoming a part-time consultant for Warriors
The Golden State Warriors won the 2015 NBA title in large part due to the strength of their coaching staff. While first-year head coach Steve Kerr earned copious and deserving praise for his own contributions to the squad, one of his greatest strengths was to assemble a group of assistants full of experience and quality. It succeeded so well that Alvin Gentry is now the head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans, but the likes of Ron Adams and Luke Walton still give the Warriors a valuable edge.
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The defending champs are now very close to having a new person on hand to instruct players. This one happens to be one of the best point guards of his era. According to a report from ESPN’s Marc Stein, retired two-time MVP Steve Nash is in “advanced talks” to join the Warriors as a part-time player development consultant:
Sources told ESPN.com that Nash, who was not planning to go into coaching after formally announcing his retirement in March, has been lobbied aggressively by Warriors coach Steve Kerr and team president Rick Welts to spend a few days per month with the team to work on skills with individual players.
The parties, sources said, are in the process of finalizing a deal that essentially will make Nash an occasional tutor to the Golden State guards. Kerr, Welts and current Warriors player development coach Bruce Fraser — all of whom worked closely with the 41-year-old Nash when he was playing in Phoenix — are among Nash’s closest friends in the league and ultimately persuaded him to consider joining the NBA reigning champions as a part-timer. […]
While out injured last season, Nash did similar work with Los Angeles Lakers youngster Jordan Clarkson and, sources say, has likewise worked out this summer with a variety of guards around the league: Jeremy Lin, Dante Exum, Kemba Walker and C.J. McCollum.
The idea of Nash working with Warriors immediately brings up visions of the NBA’s third-place all-time assist man working with MVP Stephen Curry, who has clearly added elements of Nash’s style to his game over the years (especially in terms of maintaining his dribble for as long as possible). Stein also notes that Nash shares an agent (Bill Duffy) with other Splash Brother Klay Thompson, a player who has made great strides as a passer but could still stand to improve.
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As of right now, there are no up-and-coming Warriors guards for Nash to mentor. Twenty-five-year-old Chris Babb rates as an end-of-bench contributor at best, and Shaun Livingston can probably only learn so much at 30. Yet Nash could be helpful to players like Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes if Golden State extends the definition of “guards” to any players who can serve as playmakers. This versatile roster turns positions into concepts more than hard-and-fast roles, so Nash can perhaps instruct wings even if they don’t figure to dribble and probe defenses nearly as much as Nash did in his best season.
No matter his eventual effect on the team (and it figures to be relatively minimal in the grand scheme of things), it’s good to hear that a future Hall of Famer won’t be straying too far from the sport. Nash has interests ranging from fashion to filmmaking, but he helped to usher in a new era of basketball and still has plenty to give to the sport. The Warriors and the league should be better for his involvement.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
