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Stephen A. Smith expressed on ESPN on Thursday that the Brooklyn Nets’ hiring of Steve Nash as the franchise’s next head coach, who has no experience as an assistant or head coach in the league, is an example of white privilege.
Smith also made sure to note this doesn’t have to do with Nash specifically.
When it came time to speak further on his stance during his appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up” on Friday, Smith stated he doesn’t “blame Nash for taking the job.” Smith also didn’t “completely” blame Nets general manager Sean Marks for the “example of white privilege”:
[Marks has] got to resident stars in Kyrie Irving and, especially, Kevin Durant, who is the voice of the Brooklyn Nets — who clearly wanted Steve Nash and obviously signed off on it. So if you’re Sean marks, that definitely is a plus in your direction. We understand it.
What I meant when I said ‘white privilege,’ is that this kind of opportunity does not come along for Black coaches. Derek Fisher doesn’t qualify. It was the Knicks job, but they stunk. Doc Rivers was in a rebuilding mode when he got the Orlando job. When you look at other guys, that is the situation. the fact of the matter is, when it comes to Steve Nash and to a lesser degree Steve Kerr, the bottom line is that those kind of opportunities don’t happen for Black people. I said it before, I’ve been saying it for years, I’m going to continue to say it, and the real person that I’m pointing the finger at are the two stars on the Brooklyn nets because I’m thinking about the process.
With the announcement of Nash’s hiring, Marks expressed he met with “a number of highly accomplished coaching candidates from diverse backgrounds” for the position.
Smith alluded to that statement, then added:
Bottom line is when you are an African American, particularly in the world of professional sports — and we see the numbers dwindling. Right now, in a league that’s nearly 80% Black, there’s four Black head coaches. Two of them got fired: Nate McMillan (by the Indiana Pacers) and Alvin Gentry (by the New Orleans Pelicans) already since the bubble took place. When you look at it from that perspective and you see the dwindling of numbers and the advent of analytics and how African Americans ain’t necessarily being hired for those positions — or to become head coaches under that system. The bottom line is that the numbers are dwindling before our very eyes, and the Black players don’t seem to be saying anything about it. They damn sure don’t seem to be doing anything about it. Somebody has to, so I’m doing it.
Smith also predicted Nash will win 50 games as a rookie head coach because of the roster he has — which has to do with the point the ESPN host is trying to make.
The point is that if you’re Black but you have rebuilding projects, you might make progress, but at some point they pull the plug from you and they bring somebody else in to reap the benefits of your labor. That doesn’t happen to white guys.
.@stephenasmith expands on why he considers the Nets hiring Steve Nash an example of "white privilege." pic.twitter.com/seRik7SYGe
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) September 4, 2020
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