7 NBA teams who will definitely fall into Steve Nash trap after podcast with LeBron

In extremely exciting news, a super good and fun podcast seems to be returning soon. LeBron James and JJ Redick hosted Mind the Game until JJ Redick himself became LeBron’s head coach on the Los Angeles Lakers. Suddenly, their talking about basketball for the benefit of fans became a little… uh… riskier.

This made me sad. This is because 1) I like blaming other people for my emotional state and 2) the pod was a very enjoyable means of learning about basketball from some of the best to ever do it. It went away. I was going to miss it.

But then this got posted:

WHOA! Steve Nash? LeBron James? Game-minding like a couple of MVP’s? What could possibly go wrong?

Well, there is an issue here. There’s no telling how long this lasts. 100 percent of former Mind the Game hosts have become NBA head coaches immediately. One out of one. That’s how math works. We can only assume the same will happen to Steve Nash. No evidence otherwise.

So which teams are going to fall into that trap?

1. New Orleans Pelicans

I’m trying not to make this a “This team is doing poorly but seems to have talent. The answer definitely is a new coach” thing. But, uh, this particular franchise feels like the best fit for that super reductive thought on the future.

I like Willie Green. I am not a dedicated Pelicans fan, nor do I have much stake in their success, but I’ve seen little that would make me think that the Pelicans success or lack thereof is his fault.

Injuries. Always, always injuries.

You would want to see stars grow, and maybe find a role that fits an offensive vision, and, if I’m going to be mean, it does seem a bit like CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram, the two established top-talents he’s had in his tenure, haven’t exactly taken a step in his time?

But the youngins certainly have. You know, when they’re not injured. And injuries are not Willie Green’s fault.

He just doesn’t seem long for this role. I’m not sure Steve Nash would do anything better in Green’s place, but a place may well be open.

2. Portland Trail Blazers

Do we know if Chauncey can still save his job? Is that the position he is in? This is his fourth year as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers. They’re only a few games out of the play-in this year, and that’s nice, but it’s hard to say he’s done enough to be guaranteed an additional attempt at turning this team into something other than a tank battalion.

Chauncey did not have a long tenure as an assistant coach before being offered the head coaching position in Portland. He was also maligned for pieces of his past coming to light. There has never been an exceptional amount of love for Chauncey in Portland. Not much to believe in advance, not much to show in the interim, and not much to believe in going forward.

I am a Pistons fan. I have fond memories of Chauncey in places where my greater morality doesn’t get a say, but, um, I’m just kind of amazed he is still in charge.

Sure, the teams that have leapfrogged the Trail Blazers have generally done so because the front office has brought in veterans. The teams I’m thinking of are the Houston Rockets and the Detroit Pistons, but the Portland Trail Blazers haven’t quite advanced to the point where that’s in their plans. Just youngins. Youngbloods. Everyone doing their best and the best not being very good.

If Steve Nash pops on Mind the Game and gives a little 20-minute crescendo on how to re-rebuild and nurture the Portland Trail Blazers, that could be seen as an actual long term plan. If you’re going to replace an all-time great point guard as a coach, why not replace him with an even better point guard?

3. Charlotte Hornets

Charles Lee deserves his time, but as we’ve seen in the WNBA, sometimes the coach of a not-to-be-named franchise starting with “Ch” will fire its coach after said coach impresses and gains the trust of the talented young players there. Lightning always strikes twice. I think.

4. Dallas Mavericks

Who knows which members of the Mavericks will remain after this season. That means players, execs, coaches. Anyone could be on their way out, depending on whether someone with power tries to save face or make a decision to hopefully extend their own career.

Things in Dallas are not great right now! You might have heard about this!

Jason Kidd has had detractors most of his time in Dallas, but it seemed like a good amount of that got smoothed over once the Mavs made a run to the finals. Maybe he would not be some people’s favorite coach to be running the team, but results are results. Things looked to be pretty well set up for the immediate future.

Then a thing happened.

Anything is on the table now. Maybe Nico Harrison still has the trust of the owners? For some reason? Maybe Nico can convince the owners, despite the public embarrassment, to stay the course with his vision and staff. Kidd could be safe.

Or there’s the chance that Nico needs to quickly make a move to save his job. A languishing GM can often look at firing a coach as a means of saying, “No, I swear. It’s not the roster. We just need to put the right guy in charge.” He might get that chance.

Or just everyone is gone. The Adelsons get super embarrassed, blame everyone but themselves (because lol) and decide to bring in another former Mavs point guard to distract from their own bad influence and decision-making.

Who knows if they think anymore.

This just can’t be ruled out.

5. Washington Wizards

Brian Keefe has been coaching through a hologram since he was hired. Very few people know this. The Wizards picked him while conducting interviews in the Metaverse, and it was between him and Mark Zuckerberg dressed as a Viking warrior. It was a difficult choice, and the jury is still out on whether it was the right one.

There has been little positive to say about this Wizards season. They’re definitely better since trading Kyle Kuzma for Khris Middleton, but it would have been pretty tricky for them to get worse. If anyone could do it, it’d be them. But they didn’t! Hooray!

I feel like the Wizards are the team I end up being mean to. If it makes you feel any better, it’s personal. After Kyle Kuzma did this last year …

… I kind of started rooting for bad things to happen to them. Luckily, they had Kyle Kuzma on their team, so the bad things did often happen.

Well, he’s gone now. I’m sure my ire will fade over the coming weeks and months, but until this season is over, I’m going to gloat a little bit. Fight me in the comments. I won’t read them.

I can’t say I have much of a grasp on Brian Keefe’s coaching style. He doesn’t have a lot to work with, I guess, but this just seems like another unfortunate season under another coach that doesn’t exactly inspire.

But I’m sure hiring Steve Nash could be a real shot in the arm. I bet Steve Nash is going to say some real smart stuff on Mind the Game. He’s going to come out of this podcast with a better podcast than he had before going into it. There’s only up from here.

Hey! That’s just like the Wizards!

Get bent, dorks.

6. Philadelphia 76ers

Does Nick Nurse live?

I mean, there’s a difference between merely being alive and actually living. Living requires actual interaction with the world around you as a sentient being. You know, making decisions, finding your place in the world, pursuing and claiming happiness. Something greater than and different from lack of death.

Since the middle of last season, Nurse has looked more catatonic than I’m used to. The quirky things surrounding him, like custom logoed hats and bringing his guitar everywhere, have faded as well. Those were never cool, but they were at least unique.

Who you are as an NBA coach kind of gets subsumed when your team isn’t performing well. Sometimes you’re just left with a picture of said coach in your head on the sidelines, looking like this:

<:(

Nick Nurse did not alienate James Harden, as far as we know. Nick Nurse did not make Paul George decide to sit out for the rest of the season. Nick Nurse did not make Maxey’s three-point percentage and make his health take a dip.

But as said earlier, embattled GM’s look out for themselves first, it always seems. Daryl Morey is not in fantastic shape at the moment.

Nick Nurse is probably a pretty good coach. But you know who is an even better coach? I mean, like, always? All the time? The coach that the embattled GM brings in. It always works out. Hooray!

7. Phoenix Suns

Mike Budenholzer doesn’t seem long for this role of Phoenix Suns head coach. He’s like most coaches in that regard. You coach the Suns for a year or two, then you get a ton of free money for a while. (Or you coach the Pistons despite not wanting to, get an insane contract, and be set for life while not really doing much of anything ever again. Salute, Monty. People need to believe you when you say you don’t feel like coaching. You’ll never be doubted again.)

But wouldn’t this be so perfectly stupid?

The Suns basically went all-in for two seasons, last year and this year. Last year was a first round sweep. This year, they may not even make it that far. It’s still a joy to watch Kevin Durant and Devin Booker play basketball, but it’s not a joy to watch the team they’re on.

They are running out of time to get things together and currently sit outside the play-in behind the Mavericks and Kings. If you pay attention to the quality of the team, you’re not really in a good place right now.

So let’s do the best distraction ever! Let’s bring in the team’s two-time MVP, leader of a basketball revolution, and the franchise’s third place leader in all time win shares!

Do KD and him have a relationship that can be salvaged? I don’t know! But I don’t think KD is playing there next year anyway!

Like the title said, this is a trap. The Suns are most liable to jump right in.