As the news broke that the Brooklyn Nets hired Hall of Famer Steve Nash as their next head coach. Stephen A. Smith reacted on his show “First Take” by calling it an example of “White Privilege” because Nash has absolutely no coaching experience. ZERO!!!
As he was full stride into his take Richard Jefferson reminded him that cats like Jason Kidd and Derek Fisher had zero experience when they were hired as head coaches.
Jefferson makes a great point but in my opinion it holds no water in an America that’s supposed to be about equality in opportunity. That’s like saying that because we’ve had one black president that everything’s fair and equal now. There have been 45 presidents and only one of them was black. We’re still getting blown out 44-1.
Having two black guys in the history of the NBA get pushed to the front of the line doesn’t level the playing field and for Richard Jefferson and others to think that it makes sense is asinine.
There are a ton of white guys that have been getting jobs and are still getting jobs that they aren’t qualified for, while black qualified candidates can’t even get an interview. Don’t fall for the Oakey Doke and I’m not just talking about coaching either.
Guys like Tyronn Lue not only has coaching experience but he’s won an NBA Championship. Sam Cassell, Nick Van Exel and others have been sitting in the assistant’s chair long enough. It’s time to push them to the front of the line.
I’m not saying that Steve Nash won’t do a good job because he’s never coached before. What I am saying is that we’ll never know if some of these black qualified candidates can even be a good head coach if they’re never given a chance to be a head coach. Stop me when I start lyin’!