Steve Nash gets harsh reception from Nets fans at team event

Mar 31, 2018; San Antonio, TX, USA; Former basketball player Steve Nash speaks during the NBA Hall of Fame press conference at the Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports

Steve Nash is entering Year Three at the helm in Brooklyn, and it turns out that is about the same number of local fans that support him right now.

The Nets head coach Nash received a harsh reception at the team’s annual “Practice in the Park” (an open practice at Brooklyn Bridge Park) over the weekend. Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News reports that Nash got booed when he was introduced to the crowd. Winfield estimated that around a quarter of the fans in attendance (a capacity crowd of roughly 8,000) booed Nash. The report also quoted Nets content creator Shane Calliste, who attended the event and guessed that approximately “70 percent” of the fans at the park booed at Nash.

Though he was an 18-year veteran and two-time NBA MVP at the point guard position, Nash had no coaching experience prior to taking the Nets job in 2020 (only working as a part-time consultant for Golden State after retiring as a player). That inexperience has been evident at times as the Nets have underwhelmed in Nash’s tenure, failing to get out of the second round in Nash’s debut season and getting swept out of the first round last season.

While any coach would have trouble managing the three-ring circus of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons, there have been at least a few signs of Nash-specific issues too. With Winfield also noting that the Nets players largely received warm ovations at the open practice, it sounds like the fans are placing much of the blame on Nash for their team’s struggles.