On the Stephen A. thing, in 2019 I wouldn't have even thought twice about this. But this is 2020 and our country's racial problems are front and center right now, and I admit that upon hearing about this I quickly thought of the fact that Nash is white.
Because this is 2020, earlier this year 538's sports podcast discussed race and coach hirings in professional sports. And they mentioned something that really stuck with me - of the classic four major American sports, two have a majority of white players (MLB and NHL) and two have a majority of black players (NFL and NBA). And when it comes to head coaches, two value former players over non-players and two value non-players over former players. And wouldn't you know, the sports dominated by black players prefer outsiders while the sports dominated by white players prefer former players.
Now in this instance Nash is a former player, he just happens to be a white former player. And as people have pointed out, his connection to KD and to a hugely successful franchise make the hiring sensible and completely reasonable. And from all accounts Nash is a great basketball mind.
But I'm still left wondering if Nash would have been hired if he was a black former player. If he was black, would his lack of coaching experience have been a bigger problem? If he was black, would being a former player have worked against him?
I don't claim to have answers but I think it is worth discussing, and the bias against black former players in sports is definitely worth shining a light on.