Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Steve Nash was appointed as the new head coach of the Brooklyn Nets. He signed a four-year contract with the team and the previous interim coach Jacque Vaughn will stay as Nash's assistant.

"The why is that I love to teach. I love to learn. I love being part of a team and building a team. And I love to compete. It has all the ingredients in terms of satisfying growing as a person, leading a team and a group of people. Learning from the people and the game. Being part of an organization and a culture. And then competition. Those are the ingredients that excite me and put me in a position to be thrilled to take this opportunity," said Nash to Marc J. Spears of ESPN.

"He (Nash) knows the drill. He's been in the league forever and he knows the game as well as anybody and he understands people. And I think he's very wise, so he'll hire a good staff. And everything that he needs to learn, he'll learn quickly. It'll happen so quickly for him just to get the rhythm and the feel and I'm sure he'll hire a great staff to help him along," said Steve Kerr, head coach of the Golden State Warriors.

Nash was not the first one of his era to coach a team – Derek Fisher and Jason Kidd already beat him to it though their careers as head coach were not quite successful. By the way, this seemed to be another thing Nash shared with Kidd: both were assist leaders in the Phoenix Suns; both made great pair with Sean Marion; both used to be teammates of Dirk Nowitzki; and both were head coach of the Nets.

Guards, especially some of the greatest point guards in the past, were all somehow built for coaching. Four-time NBA champion, eight-time All-Star Bill Sharman led the Los Angeles Lakers to win the title in 1972; nine-time All-Star Lenny Wilkens became the first 1,000-win coach in league history; the first ABA assist leader Larry Brown led the Detroit Pistons win the title in 2004. There were also the cases of Mark Jackson, Doc Rivers and many others.

This was no coincidence. Guards are usually commanders on the court and they rely more on playing smart, scanning the floor and uniting teammates. They are more talkative than big men, know how to get along with different players. Some have also been known for being bossy, like Avery Johnson who used to coach the Dallas Mavericks.

Of course, Brooklyn are a more complicated story. They will have a champion-level squad when everyone is healthy. However, they also fired Kenny Atkinson after he led them into the playoffs for two straight seasons without even a complete franchise. It's clear now that he failed to gain support from the team's two aces, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.

Then what about Nash? Will he be able to coach the team well?

He should be. Brooklyn have a lot of talented young men and thus require a guy who can make them follow orders. That's why the team kept Vaughn. Nash's job is to handle Irving and Durant. Irving grew up watching Nash play and win two MVPs in a row. Durant had great relations with Nash when they were in Golden State. Furthermore, Nash had always been considered as one of the best teammates when he was a player. Rarely did anyone ever said anything negative about him. He was the leader in the game and a perfect example on the court.

Nash's biggest challenge may come from Irving. There's nothing Irving could not do in individual offense, but he still does not know how to lead a team. Now he gets to learn from the best.