The rich got richer today by adding someone who was already quite rich. This is fairly often the case for NBA teams once they become great. The Warriors never knew of such perks for so many years, but now the good news comes in luxurious warm waves, like those that caress the Caribbean sand.
Today’s perfect set:
ESPN sources say two-time MVP Steve Nash finalizing agreement with Golden State to join Warriors as part-time player development consultant
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) September 15, 2015
Warriorsworld summed it up nicely:
Steve Nash gonna get paid to come to the Bay from time to time and hang out with Steph and Co. … Legendary Gig — warriorsworld (@warriorsworld) September 15, 2015
So did ESPN’s Amin Elhassan:
This is like giving the Incredible Hulk a machine gun https://t.co/m7FM5DB3In
— Amin Elhassan (@AminESPN) September 15, 2015
Lakers fans are none too pleased. Here’s what Darius Soriano of Forum Blue & Gold had to say:
I’m not here to proclaim Nash as some savant who can instantly transfer his skills to other players. But considering some of the growth Clarkson showed in his game after working with Nash (and his proclamations he would work out with him more this summer), there’s evidence he knows a thing or two about teaching the game. And the Lakers — a team which once employed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to help with the development of Andrew Bynum — maybe better than others, should know the benefits of having a former legend help out with young players.
Maybe it wouldn’t have worked out between Nash and the Lakers, but I sure wish we would have gotten the opportunity to find out. Especially after learning the Warriors will.
And who can blame them?
Steve Nash joined Golden State today as a consultant, but he was already an honorary Warrior after stealing $28 million from the Lakers — Bay Area Sports Guy (@BASportsGuy) September 15, 2015
What does the addition of Nash really mean for the Warriors? The Steph Curry connection will get the most attention, since they’ve been compared to each other since Curry joined the league. There will be untold references to shooting contests and games of H-O-R-S-E after practice, for sure.
Really, though — how much better can Curry get by talking to Nash, at least in a mechanical sense? Curry just won an MVP.
Rather than hiring someone to tutor a straight-A student, I believe this move was done to get an extra set of eyes on the entire offense, which I’m guessing will be the main focus in 2015-16. The 2014-15 Warriors could always depend on their defensive supremacy when they stopped passing quite as often or as crisply, and/or the shots stopped falling. The defensive talent, experience and drive was already there from previous seasons. They made drastic offensive improvements in their championship season, but there was no way Steve Kerr could expect his new team to become a fully realized cohesive unit in year one. Not after running such an elementary group of sets in previous seasons under Mark Jackson, who helped pull the franchise out of the muck by stressing defense and rebounding, but was happy to mimic the ’90s Knicks on offense.
Nash was a fantastic player, a Hall of Fame player. But his greatest strengths are vision and orchestration. With Alvin Gentry gone, Kerr can look to Nash as someone who sees the bigger picture offensively, even if he isn’t onsite full-time.
That’s probably where he can help Curry more than anything. Curry doesn’t need any help with shooting or ball-handling, but he could probably benefit from Nash’s advice on tempo and how to get the ball to each teammate in his preferred spot(s). Nash can probably watch young players like Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes and detect ways to get more out of them offensively, ways Thompson, Green and Barnes themselves never would’ve envisioned.
Nash also might have found a nice, cushy way to finally get a ring. That’s got to drive the Lakers, Suns, or any other team a little nuts today. If Nash was open to teaching, what set of students needed his tutelage less, but could possibly utilize it better, than the Golden State Warriors?
