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Steve Nash says playing career is why he got to 'skip the line' to become Brooklyn Nets coach

Newly hired Brooklyn Nets coach Steve Nash said criticisms that he "skipped the line" and got the opportunity to coach a presumed NBA championship contender were fair, but that his 18-season Hall of Fame career properly positioned him to have success as a first-time head coach.

"Well, I did skip the line, frankly," Nash said in his virtual introductory news conference from the team's practice facility Wednesday afternoon. "But at the same time, I think leading an NBA team for almost two decades is pretty unique. So while I haven't necessarily learned some of the skills that I'll definitely seek to understand and learn as far as the technical aspects of coaching, I was never far from that.