Steve Nash is entering what will likely be the final free agency period of his career. At age 38, Nash has yet to win an NBA championship. It would only make sense for him to sign with a championship contender for the final years of his career, although he did recently admit that money is a very important factor in his decision. One team that is looking for backcourt help and is a perennial playoff contender is the Lakers. While Nash has not closed the door on the possibility of going to L.A., he did admit that it would be a tough thing to do.
“The truth is I am bit old school,” Nash said during an interview with 98.7 ESPN in New York. “I think for me it would be hard to put on a Lakers jersey. That’s just what it is. You play against them so many times in the playoffs and I just use them as an example with the utmost respect for them and their organization. I think it was Larry Bird that was like he wouldn’t play for them type thing. I kind of have that tendency.
“It is strange, but as a free agent you are free to go wherever you want and I’d have to consider everything regardless of the past or future. You have to evaluate that moment. Do you go there and everyone is like you went there and won a championship — Who cares? They won it the year before without you. Or is it better to go somewhere else and knock them off?”
From the sound of it, Nash cares more about the public’s perception of him than he does about winning an actual championship. It may not be as simple as going somewhere else and knocking a team off, as nobody can predict the future. In any event, Nash should have plenty of suitors aside from the Lakers if he would not be comfortable in L.A. With the way Kobe Bryant and company looked this past season, that may not be Nash’s best chance to win a title anyway.
H/T Eye on Basketball
Photo credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE
