Steve Nash: A Los Angeles Lakers Farewell
I could not stand Steve Nash.
As a Los Angeles Lakers fan growing up, there was no single player I detested more than the Phoenix Suns point guard. Not personally (I’m sure he’s a swell guy), but in a purely basketball sense the guy was some descendant of basketball hell aimed at my favorite team for a good stretch of the mid-2000’s. Besides the arguable (depending on who you ask) MVPs he robbed Kobe Bryant of, the Suns were a cheat code on offense; a full-throttle attack that could bombard you with three-pointers or rip you apart with the pick-and-roll.
Of course the rest of their roster was irritating as well. Raja Bell personified this, and he got his fair share of disdain from Lakers fans as well. Boris Diaw just did not make any sense to me, given his body type and skill-set (and still doesn’t), and the plug-and-play guys they brought with them at times (hello, Tim Thomas) always found some way to make an impact in games, just at the right time. However, all these players were just background noise to a conversation that began and ended with Steve Nash.
Nash was clearly the straw that stirred the drink for Mike D’Antoni‘s Suns teams. His set of skills were a perfect match for the system, and his talents elevated the play of everyone around him. It was frustrating to root against, as near-dominance usually is. There were times when the pick-and-roll, spearheaded by Nash, was an unstoppable weapon. Even with scoring outbursts from the great Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers had a hard time keeping up with the Steve Nash-era Suns.
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There is a certain respect born out of the fierce fire of competition. Nash had earned all of that and more from my end as a fan, and has even grabbed more as time has ticked on by. As the Lakers rose, and the Suns dipped in production, it became more evident what exactly I was witnessing as a fan all of those years. I was watching an all-time great, even if he was sneaky in that regard, and the magic that those seven-seconds-or-less Phoenix Suns memories have started to produce more fond memories than ones that used to be filled with disappointment.
Towards the end of Nash’s Suns career, I longed for him to get a shot at a title; he deserved to play on the biggest stage in basketball. Rumors swirled, from the Miami Heat to the New York Knicks, and it was clear that Nash would be moving on from the franchise that had birthed my strange love-hate view of the two-time MVP. And then the saga took a turn that I never saw coming.
Steve Nash’s Hollywood Legacy
After Nash was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for a mere two first-round draft choices, I was ecstatic. To finally have a well-respected enemy as an allied force, and to pair him with Kobe Bryant of all people was basketball nirvana. When Dwight Howard joined the fold, it was clear that Nash would get his shot to play for a title; until it wasn’t.
Nash was never meant to be a Laker. That much is evident to me now that we have time to look back at everything. Dwightmare aside, the injury issues hit the point guard early and often, robbing him of what career he had left. He could play in spurts, but this was never the plan, having a former MVP reduced to a role player and at times a spot-up shooter. He couldn’t stay on the court anyways, and the team around him had deteriorated so quickly with Kobe Bryant’s injuries and free agent departures, that I am not sure him staying healthy could have produced enough magic to matter.
Now, his latest injury ends his season, and barring something greatly unforeseen, his NBA career.
It’s not the way that Nash deserved to go out, not with so much promise unfulfilled in his short Los Angeles tenure. He was supposed to be running pick-and-rolls with Dwight Howard, decimating NBA defenses, with Kobe Bryant shouldering the remainder of the offensive load. The trio was meant to see playoff runs, maybe even win a title, and become mentioned in basketball lore as one of the best offensive teams that came together under one roof. Instead, Nash will be relegated to a spectator in his final NBA season, an unfortunately familiar scene since he signed his Laker contract.
Perhaps this route was the best, preserving the best memories of Steve Nash as those in a Phoenix Suns uniform. Raising the trophy in a Laker uniform just wouldn’t seem right for Nash, not after those heated playoff series, and not after all the chaos he caused for Los Angeles in his days as a bitter rival. The latter stages of Nash’s career certainly do not tarnish his legacy (time is an undefeated foe), and his tenure with the Lakers should be viewed as something of a footnote to a storied career as opposed to a chapter detailing the rapid decline of a once-great player.
Sure, Steve Nash will go down as one of the most disappointing Los Angeles Lakers of all-time. The greatness he displayed at his peak with the Phoenix Suns will remain elusive, and any playoff glory he could have experienced with the Lakers will remain lost. The last time we will remember Steve Nash as truly being Steve freaking Nash will remain as the final days during his time in the desert; a member of a Suns franchise that he gave his all to every single night, competing and taking on all comers.
And it wouldn’t feel right any other way.