NBA legend Charles Barkley weighed in on the recent comments by sports analyst Stephen A. Smith who called the hiring of Steve Nash as the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets a “white privilege”.
Other analysts, such as former NBA player Jay Williams, did not agree with Smith’s assessment of the situation, pointing out to the fact that Nash was chosen by two black superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
“What happened to Doc Rivers? What happened to Jason Kidd? What happened to Derek Fisher? … When you have a responsibility. Especially when you talk about some serious issue as race, you can’t be full of crap, you got to be honest and fair,” Barkley said.
“Steve Nash is a great player and a good dude. But I was so disappointed with all these guys. Dude, black guys have done this before. Do we need more black coaches in the NBA? Yes. Do we need more black coaches in college football? Yes. Do we need more black coaches in pro football? Yes. But this wasn’t the right time to shut it today. Good luck to Steve Nash.”
