Steve Nash played through a number of frustrating seasons with the Phoenix Suns, but he rarely ever said much about it. Nash has always been one of the more quiet players in the league, so when he says something that can be construed as a complaint about a teammate it’s fairly notable.
Nash and Dwight Howard, the Los Angeles Lakers’ two biggest offseason acquisitions, have not been able to build any type of chemistry this season. Both have battled injuries which hasn’t helped their growth, but the frustration is obvious. Nash confirmed that it exists over the weekend.
“We’d like to get him in the pick and roll more,” Nash said Sunday, via the Orange County Register. “I think that’s how he was really good in Orlando. He’d pick and he’d dive and they’d swing and put it in to him, so he could get deeper catches and the help side has a more difficult time coming to him.
“I don’t know. It’s been difficult really to get him into that game – running into pick and rolls, diving hard, looking for the ball. We really haven’t found that rhythm from him yet.”
As the OCR’s Kevin Ding pointed out, the fact that Nash said “from him” is noteworthy. Rather than saying he and Howard simply haven’t been able to find a rhythm together, Nash seemed to intentionally pin the blame on his teammate — something he has probably never done during the course of his 16-year career.
Nash’s comments came after the Lakers lost to the Miami Heat on Sunday. During the third quarter of that game, Nash and Howard got a bit animated with one another after Nash became trapped in the corner and he felt as though Howard did not make an attempt to help him out. Instead, Dwight just hollered for the ball. Here’s a video of the play:
Sensing a pattern at all? Whether it’s Kobe Bryant, Charles Barkley, or Stan Van Gundy, there is no shortage of people who feel as though Howard has not been giving it his all. It’s possible that people are underestimating how much pain he has been in with his right shoulder injured, but that hasn’t stopped the public criticism. When Nash contributes to it, you know something must be up.
