“Experience and Championships”: Former Brooklyn Nets Star Urges His Team to Hire Gregg Popovich

The Brooklyn Nets coaching situation has been doing the rounds for the last few days. After being linked to Gregg Popovich initially, a lot of new names have been rumored to join the Nets. Now, former player Stephon Marbury has expressed his opinion about the situation and talked about who he feels should take over.

Marbury played three seasons for the Nets, back when they were based in New Jersey. From 1999 to 2001, Marbury was the star point guard for the Nets. While talking to Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson, Marbury revealed that he would love to see Pop over Jason Kidd in Brooklyn.

“I think I would probably go with experience and championships with Popovich,” Marbury said. “I think Popovich has a great rapport with players. Jason Kidd, I think he will continue to flourish as a coach. But I would go with experience over a coach who has coached for X amount of years.”

Is Popovich a realistic appointment for the Brooklyn Nets?

Marbury admitted that Popovich’s experience is what gives him the edge over Kidd. He said, “I’m a coach right now and I think people would probably pass on me because there are some things I still am learning as a coach. I think with Popovich being in the position where he’s won multiple championships and he’s built a dynasty over an organization over the NBA”

But Nets GM Sean Marks has already downplayed these rumors. “Pop has a job. So I will say that,” Marks told WFAN in New York. “And obviously, we all know he’s an amazing, amazing coach — and to be quite frank, an even better leader. So I’ll let Pop continue to coach for the Spurs. He owes it to them and they owe it to him. I’m sure he’s quite happy there.”

Kidd, on the other hand, already has experience with the Nets. He was a star player for them in the early 2000s, just after Marbury left. He took them to two successive NBA Finals, but lost on both occasions.

After playing for them for seven seasons, in the 2013-14 season, he was appointed the head coach. In his first-ever coaching stint, he took the aging Nets team with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the second round of the playoffs. But in the next season, he was traded to the Bucks for two second-round picks.

The Nets have multiple options, with Kidd, Tyronn Lue and now current interim Jacque Vaughn has also emerged as a candidate. With a strong squad including Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving assembled already, they will attract the best talent out there easily.