Steve Nash thinks rest may have helped him: ‘I was always tired in the playoffs’
Amidst numerous retired NBA legends speaking out against the league’s current wave of stars sitting out games for rest, here’s one who thinks he might have benefited from the practice.
Two-time MVP Steve Nash appeared on SiriusXM NBA Radio on Friday and said that he could have used some rest during his playing career, noting how he was always tired in the postseason.
“I was always tired in the playoffs, I could have needed the rest. Frankly, this is the way the game is going to go.” –@SteveNash on resting
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) March 31, 2017
“It’s an evolution. Unfortunately, it’s painful for the fan. It’s very tricky on what’s right & wrong” -More @SteveNash on players resting
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) March 31, 2017
Nash, now 43 years old, played in the NBA for 18 seasons, logging 31.3 minutes a night and appearing in 75 or more games for 10 of those seasons. 120 career playoff games also added the equivalent of another season and a half or so of wear on the eight-time All-Star’s tires. In the end, despite his reputation for extraordinary physical conditioning, Nash’s body betrayed him when he joined the L.A. Lakers in 2012, and he was forced into retirement.
We’ve recently seen different retired point guards from different generations sound off on the perceived ills of the modern era of rest, so Nash provides an interesting counter-perspective here from a more contemporary point of view.