What to Expect From Nets Summer League HC Steve Hetzel

Brooklyn Nets assistant coach Steve Hetzel made headlines earlier this summer when he was linked to the Phoenix Suns head coach vacancy. Now, he’s back in the news, albeit in more hushed tones, as the Nets’ bench boss for Summer League. 

The team kicks off its Summer League campaign on Thursday at 5:30 PM ET against the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder. Brooklyn’s five rookies are all rostered, although Drake Powell is unavailable. The Nets’ new wing is dealing with left knee tendinopathy. 

Hetzel will still call the shots over a squad featuring Egor Dëmin (the No. 8 overall pick), Nolan Traore (No. 19), Ben Saraf (No. 26) and Danny Wolf (No. 27). The rest of Brooklyn’s Summer League schedule features games against the Washington Wizards, New York Knicks and Orlando Magic. Hetzel already coached the Nets in Las Vegas last summer.

“We want to be physical and we want to be disruptive [defensively], so that’s the number one thing that I want to see,” he said then. “I want to see ball pressure, I want to see them [...] get deflections. And I want them to play for each other on both ends of the floor.” 

Hetzel’s NBA career started in the San Antonio Spurs’ film room as an assistant video coordinator. After that, he moved to the Cleveland Cavaliers as a video coordinator. In college, Hetzel was a student manager for Michigan State under head coach Tom Izzo. 

After being an assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons, Hetzel was the head coach of the G League’s Canton Charge during the 2013-14 season. Now-Nets head coach Jordi Fernández was his lead assistant coach.

“I want them to be in the proper help positions, I want them to share the floor, I want them to apply what we think is our shot spectrum — so get the ball to the paint, kick out, work for the best shot [and] not the first shot,” Hetzel added.

An NBA source described Hetzel as "unflappable" to the Arizona Republic in May. The Suns job ended up going to former Nets and Cavs assistant Jordan Ott, but it was not the first time that Hetzel’s name was linked to head coach openings around the league. In 2019, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Hetzel interviewed for the Cavs’ coaching position.

For now, the Michigan native will remain on the Nets bench. He is deeply trusted by Fernández. It seems like a real possibility that Hetzel will eventually become a full-time NBA head coach, though.