Fox Sports host Doug Gottlieb blasted several sports commentators, including ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, for claiming Hall of Famer Steve Nash got his NBA coaching job because of the color of his skin.
The two-time MVP was hired as the coach of the Brooklyn Nets on Sept. 3.
Later that day, the biggest personality at ESPN suggested that the reason Nash got the job instead of prospective black coaches was because of his “white privilege.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, there’s no way around this. This is white privilege. This does not happen for a black man,” Smith said on his show, “First Take.”
I love Steve Nash! But……. pic.twitter.com/lo73hhoM0q
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) September 3, 2020
TRENDING: Seattle Antifa Rally Doesn’t Last Long as Cops Tear Through Pitiful Umbrella Wall
Smith then complained that Nash was given a shot even though he had “no experience whatsoever on any level as a coach.”
After hearing Smith’s comments, Gottlieb called out the ESPN host and other “woke” sports commentators for unfairly playing the race card.
“This is the issue that most reasonable people have — reasonable people have. There are issues with race in our country. They are undeniable. They are historic, they are undeniable. By my estimation, and again this is a white, middle-aged dude, hey — I think there’s far less racial issues now than there have ever been, they’re just made to be bigger issues because they are on social media, the media picks up on them and blows up a little story into a big story,” he said Sept. 4 on “The Doug Gottlieb Show.”
Do you agree with Doug Gottleib?
“What I implore writers, reporters, woke media, Stephen A. Smith to do is don’t make that your default. Every time a white man is selected instead of a black man, race is not the first or even part of the answer, part of the equation.”
Gottlieb then began yelling as he called out the “woke media” for their hypocrisy on the issue of former NBA point guards being hired on as coaches with no experience.
“Because I didn’t hear any of you idiots,” he said, “I didn’t hear any of you complaining when Derrick Fisher got the Knicks job.
“I didn’t hear any of you say, ‘Hey, Jason Kidd, he just got done playing with the Knicks, now he’s the head coach of the Nets?’ Nothing. Isiah Thomas got a job, he’d never coached a day in his life, the Indiana Pacers. No one said a word, nothing.”
Gottlieb then shifted from criticizing race-baiting sports commentators to a much bigger issue: the Black Lives Matter movement.
“You want to go bigger issue? I agree black lives matter, but if you wanted me to get behind some movement, protest when black people are killed in inner cities by anybody, a little kid, not just police officers,” he said. “It’s despicable crime against innocent kids. Protest that! They all do, they matter!”
Returning to the original issue, Gottlieb pointed out that Nash was obviously hired because of his historic record as an NBA point guard.
“When you look historically, great point guards usually become great coaches,” he said.
Few players in NBA history, black or white, have garnered even one NBA MVP.
The fact that Steve Nash won two MVPs and led his team’s offense as a point guard for 18 years makes for a very impressive resume even without any coaching experience.
According to Smith and others with his views, we can’t celebrate the star for his accomplished career and exciting new job opportunity.
Instead, some in sports media will spend the next several years questioning whether Nash was hired because of the color of his skin.
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
