So the Brooklyn Nets' new coach, Steve Nash, "won" his press conference, but the pressure will build

Well, the Brooklyn Nets this week introduced new coach Steve Nash, a Hall of Fame point guard, and he got mostly high marks, but the pressure will be on for him to deliver wins and advance toward a championship.

Why the Nets wanted Steve Nash to coach Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, wrote ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski:

Most of all, [GM Sean] Marks hired Nash because he believed he could construct genuine relationships away from the gym, construct a culture. Everyone talks about it, but few do it. The Nets built one culture with Marks and Kenny Atkinson, the young draft picks and spare-part veterans who elevated the franchise to profound respectability around the NBA. This is a different owner and different stars and a different burden. There is extraordinary talent on these Nets, and extraordinary challenges to harness it. Nash has a reputation as one of the gatherers of people. That will be tested here. 

...As immortal talents go, Nash's story is unique. In the sport's history, no one else ever became an MVP in his 30s after spending some of his 20s in struggle. This guarantees Nash nothing, but it gives him the capacity to connect and empathize. Winning over Durant and Irving is one thing, but an NBA roster is deep, and so are the demands throughout it.

Lichtenstein: Steve Nash Won His Introductory Press Conference - But Now He Must Win Games wrote Steve Lichtenstein of WFAN:

Nothing Nash has done, not his Golden State gig and certainly not his spectacular 18-year playing career, can prepare him for all the stresses he will encounter with a Nets squad that will enter next season with the highest expectations. Durant and Irving, both of whom are recovering from major surgeries, are only guaranteed to be here for the next two seasons, after which their massive free agent contracts they signed last summer contain player options.
Managing people, where Nash is presumed to have a head start given his aforementioned prior relationships and Hall-of-Fame status, is only part of the job. Managing moments when you’re not in full control of them requires a much different skillset. 

In Five takeaways from Steve Nash’s introductory news conference, Alex Schiffer of The Athletic summarized it as not much news:

1. He did not shy away from the hard questions...
2. Nash did not consult Brooklyn’s stars on his decision...
3. No further staff updates, for now...
4. Style of play is to be determined...
5. As for the rest of roster. Nash declined to elaborate...

Like JKidd?

Some invoked a bad Nets' experience. Steve Nash's situation as Nets coach brings back memories of Jason Kidd, wrote Newsday columnist Steve Popper, likening Nash to another former point guard turned new coach, Jason Kidd.

Inarguably, the Nets now have better players in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, assuming they're healthy, than the aging Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, but Popper--even acknowledging the differences between Nash and Kidd--saw a warning:

And like Kidd, who placed much of his trust in Deron Williams, Nash must find a way to forge a bond with Irving, his own enigmatic point guard. Nash brings a long relationship with general manager Marks. Nash already has a long friendship with Durant. It is Irving who he must embrace. A generational talent, Irving has also confounded coaches and in his short-lived tenure in Boston he left behind grumbling from the locker room that he was a divisive force.

"White privilege"

As Brian Lewis wrote 9/9/20 in the New York Post, Steve Nash addresses ‘white privilege’ critiques of Nets hire:

And replacing black interim coach Jacque Vaughn at the helm of a star-studded contender, despite never spending a second as an assistant coach, he owned it. Despite saying he didn’t feel the notion of white privilege specifically applied in this case, he admits it’s a problem — one he wants to do his part to help fix.
“Well, I did skip the line, frankly,” Nash said. “But at the same time, leading an NBA team for almost two decades is pretty unique.”
So is being handed a contender despite not coming up the ranks.
Yes, there have been others who got immediate head coaching opportunities — Jason Kidd, Isiah Thomas, Doc Rivers, Mark Jackson and Derek Fisher, not to mention Nash’s Golden State boss Steve Kerr. Nine of the 16 hired without any experience since 1978-79 are black.

Steve Nash makes it plain, but his big chance in Brooklyn can’t turn out vanilla, David Aldridge wrote in The Athletic:

Even being willing to answer the question speaks to the ground upon which Nash has lived his life. This is part of why many Black folk around the NBA weren’t nonplussed by Nash’s hiring. It doesn’t mean they weren’t and aren’t rankled about head coach opportunities that have passed qualified Black candidates by in past years, and weren’t disappointed that a Black assistant or former head coach didn’t get the shot to drive what should be a Ferrari of a team in Brooklyn next season. But they understand Nash’s unique place in the game.
As Wos Lambre, Miami Heat reporter/host Jason Jackson and I said on this week’s “Hoops, Adjacent” episode of The Athletic NBA Show, this isn’t the figurative hill on which Black advocates should die.

Aldridge similarly observed there will be "no grace period"--Nash must deliver.

Can he do it?

In a follow-up 9/10/20, How the last 5 years paved the way for Steve Nash’s opportunity with the Nets, The Athletic's Schiffer quoted Warriors assistant coach Bruce Fraser as saying Nash was crucial to the team's playoff runs and was "the smartest guy in the room."

Fraser suggested Nash could advise aging stars like Durant how to manage and maximize their workouts. Nash's agent likened him to "Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, two all-time greats who transitioned from being in control of the game on the court to conducting the players."