Charles Barkley rants at Nets superstars for Nets firing Steve Nash: "This is all on Kevin Durant & Kyrie Irving & Ben Simmons, Steve Nash is a scapegoat"
Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons will be playing for a new coach after the Brooklyn Nets fired Steve Nash. Brooklyn is off to a rough start to the season and is now embroiled in another massive controversy after Irving promoted an antisemitic book.
Hall of Famer Charles Barkley didn’t mince words on the firing of Nash:
“It’s just a bad look. From a public perception, you let these players run this man off his job because they were acting like fools. This is all on Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons.
"Steve Nash is just a scapegoat. I don’t know if Steve Nash is Red Auerbach or whatever. This thing was never gonna work when he [Irving] said, ‘We don’t need a coach.’"
He added:
“Nobody was talking about how bad of a coach Steve Nash was two, three years ago. All of a sudden these guys started acting like fools and jackasses and now, ‘Steve Nash can’t coach.’”
"Steve Nash is a scapegoat for these players acting like idiots and fools."
- Charles Barkley
(h/t @_Talkin_NBA)
https://t.co/1cJECank1m
Steve Nash was hired by the Brooklyn Nets in 2020 to replace Kenny Atkinson based on the push of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The mercurial point guard made a controversial statement when he said that they don’t need a coach. He and KD could act as the coaches.
This offseason, Nash’s job was put in serious jeopardy when Durant asked team owner Joe Tsai to fire the former two-time MVP. Tsai stood by Nash until the Brooklyn Nets started faltering early into their season.
The Nets are one of the NBA’s worst defensive teams, ranking second to last in defensive rating. And despite the presence of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons, Brooklyn has a middling offense. Irving and Durant have been putting up points, but haven’t involved their teammates.
Ben Simmons is a wreck and almost a shadow of the player he once was. He was supposedly the Nets’ answer to their rebounding and defensive woes. That hasn’t been the case and his offense has nearly been unplayable.
Nets under Steve Nash:
— 94-67 record
— Won 1 playoff round
— KD/Kyrie played only 64 games together
— KD/Kyrie/Harden played only 16 games together https://t.co/DMYiByvmws
Most basketball analysts claimed that Steve Nash was put in an impossible situation. He had to continuously deal with Kyrie Irving’s various dramas while Kevin Durant simply refused to hold Irving accountable.
Nets are off to a disappointing start in the season
The Brooklyn Nets were swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs last season. After the humiliation at the hands of their rivals, the offseason only got worse. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving hogged the limelight for various dramas.
Whatever malaise they were in in the postseason seemed to follow the Nets as they opened their season. They retooled the supporting cast, but Irving, Durant and Ben Simmons are the superstars that drive the team.
The Nets weren’t a great defensive team last season and they have gotten worse this season. They can hardly stop anyone, which puts their offense in a bind. When their offense fizzles, their defense isn’t just there to keep them in games.
Brooklyn went 21-43 against the spread as a home favorite under Steve Nash, the worst mark by any head coach in the last 30 years (min. 50 games).
The Nets are bottom 3 in the NBA in defensive efficiency, defensive rebounds and points per game allowed this season. twitter.com/wojespn/status… https://t.co/484zwUQpiO
The Brooklyn Nets wanted to experiment with Ben Simmons playing as a center. It has been a disaster this season as they’re one of the worst rebounding teams. Simmons, Nic Claxton and Kevin Durant just haven’t been able to clean the glass to earn the team possession. A poor defensive team with terrible rebounding is just a bad combination.
And while the team is starting to figure things out, they now have Kyrie Irving stealing the limelight with a new controversy. Steve Nash may have been fortunate he was finally able to get out of the Nets’ unstable environment.