The Brooklyn Nets took some heat from the media about the hire of Steve Nash as their new head coach. Nash was introduced to the media on Wednesday afternoon and didn’t shy away from any hard questions.

Nash was asked about that debate on Tuesday while being introduced to the media.

“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.

“So to lead a team in such a unique position, to be the head of the team on the floor, to think on the fly, to manage personalities and people, skill sets, and bring people together, collaborating with a coach and a coaching staff for almost two decades, it’s not like I was in a vacuum. I learned a tremendous amount during my career.”

While Nash admits to skipping the line, most NBA elite players do. Magic Johnson was hired as a first-time coach by the Lakers. Larry Bird was hired as a first-time head coach by the Indiana Pacers.

Nash will be under a microscope all season long. It’s nothing the former 2x league MVP can’t handle.