Gilbert Arenas is not surprised with Brooklyn Nets firing Steve Nash: “He was given a gold mine & the gold was not there"
Gilbert Arenas, a former NBA player, isn't someone who's ever kept quiet about situations around the league. While most former players also have things to say, Arenas makes sure people hear his voice, including former Brooklyn Nets coach Steve Nash.
Arenas made some interesting comments about Nash before he was fired. The comments came from the 2022 season in an interview with Vlad TV. While he didn't praise Nash much, he said that this wasn't the job for him:
"So, now when you're a rookie coach and you got these two players coming in your practices and your games and they're really dissecting everything you're doing," Arenas said.
"So, when you're talking about, 'Oh, we're going to practice for an hour-and-a-half,' and both of them practiced for 30 minutes and they did all this stuff individually and that's what was successful, you're gonna sit there and bump every time you do something wrong.
"You're not gonna get a fair assessment of what you're capable of. So, I thought he should have gotten like a developmental type of team. You know? Grizzlies, Sacramento, one of those type of teams. I don't think that he should have been put with those three superstars."
People have agreed with what Arenas said, saying that for a new head coach, Steve Nash was in way over his head.
Gilbert Arenas Steve Nash comments
Now, two months after Nash was fired, Arenas had much more to say about how the coach didn't do the job. However, these comments were a bit harsher than his previous ones.
"Yeah, not surprised, no," Arenas said. "And the reason I say that is because he was given a gold mine and the gold was not there, right? Right. It has nothing to do with him. The gold was not there. Together, it wasn't one of those things where they played, you know, 70-plus games with each other every year, and he just failed as a coach
"So, all that mostly happened was when Kyrie (Irving) opted out and KD (Kevin Durant) said I wanted to be traded, and they said, 'Hey, hold on hold on, guys. Calm down. Alright, what needs to be happened,' you know?
"And I'm like, well, get rid of him. I'm not going to do it publicly, you know. We were here for Steve Nash, and then you know, eventually let's, you know, see how the season starts off and then we'll fire him. I mean, do you see the Nets? I mean, finally getting to where they're supposed to be, you know?
"They have the pieces. The pieces, you know, they have the pieces at the end of the day."
It's not tough to agree with Gilbert Arenas here. Considering the Nets have played much better since Steve Nash was fired, Arenas has a strong point. Perhaps Nash will get another chance in the league. However, that doesn't seem likely according to most. Many believe that if he can't win with that talent, how could he be successful elsewhere?