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Brooklyn Nets superstars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant handpicked Steve Nash to replace Kenny Atkinson to coach their team. Two seasons later, Durant asked team owner Joe Tsai to fire the head coach.
Olden Polynice, on “The Odd Couple” podcast, revealed that there has been bad blood between Nash and the two Brooklyn superstars for a while. He recounted a stunning story in which Irving openly disrespected the Brooklyn coach.
“One of the reasons why there are issues between him [Nash] and Kyrie Irving was because of a statement he made during a party at Steve Nash’s house. In front of everybody, Kyrie said, ‘You need to give those MVP trophies back to Kobe [Bryant] because you didn’t deserve them.’ To me, that was the beginning of the end for the Nets.”
Nash won the MVP award during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons. When the Hall of Fame point guard won it for the first time, Kobe Bryant had a poor season with the LA Lakers. It was the first year of the post-Shaquille O’Neal Lakers, and Bryant couldn’t lead the team to the playoffs.
The Phoenix Suns, behind Steve Nash’s leadership and playmaking, sailed to the Western Conference Finals.
The following season, Kobe Bryant carried the LA Lakers to the playoffs, where they lost in the first round to Nash’s Phoenix Suns. Bryant was a finalist in the MVP voting.
Also Checkout:- NBA All-Star Game MVP Winners
The Brooklyn Nets badly need leadership from Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant
The Brooklyn Nets have been oozing talent over the last three years, but that hasn’t been enough to take them to the NBA Finals. According to Olden Polynice, the Nets lack leadership.
“There’s no leadership anywhere around because they don’t respect Steve Nash enough to follow him. And Steve Nash hasn't had enough coaching to be a leader. That team is just made up. It’s just a made-up fantasy. Yes, they have talent, but in the playoffs, that’s not enough.”
If the rest of the team can’t look up to Steve Nash as a leader, then Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant need to step up and be counted.
