Oh. Wow people are pretty stupid. Also I figured he wouldn't know much about Laker things these days. Good to know he's still keeping track I guess.
I never liked Nash. I respected the hell out of him though, the way he ran those Phoenix teams, got the absolute most out of his athletic ability, he was a worthy opponent. That's gone now though, not that he'd care.
I thought he was trying to be serious. If that's what he was referring to, that makes his response hilarious.
My mistake. He isn't from Temecula. I just read the article. It said the dude is from Diego and drove to Temecula to fight him for dissing Kobe on Twitter.
Clarkson is supposed to be working out with him today, so I know he's not out of town. Wouldn't it make sense to show up for the team photo, then go workout with JC? I mean it's not like we're paying him nearly $10m this season and he's done next to nothing for the organization.
Eh, I think only players actually a part of the team should be in the team photo. Nash is not part of the team, he's a guy the Lakers pay 10 million dollars to enjoy life in LA.
Agreed, let's agree to ditch accuracy and just pretend Steve Nash was never a Laker after this season. Nash has not had any impact on the court as a Laker, he is like some ten million dollar a year tax penalty that the organisation was caught for that has been zapping us for the last few years. What is worse is he hampered our cap and player recruitment. The twitter stuff is just what bored EX players do. I guess Nash is so used to cashing checks his body can't handle as a player, his mouth is now cashing them too. I think that losing Nash this year will be almost as good as getting a top 5 pick. It has been that unfortunate of a relationship. I want to retire his Laker jersey and bury it in the Staple's center catacombs. Or shred about ten thousand of (the no doubt unsold) jerseys and use them as towels and mops to clean up the sweat of actual hardworking, contributing Lakers dedication effort and actual presence on the court. Do I hate Nash? Actually no. Do I like Nash? Not so much.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-steve-nash-has-paid-high-cost-to-his-present Probably already posted, but good article. The only team that was unloading contracts at the trade deadline were Nets. They wanted assets for Lopez and i sure dont want a cent of Deron Williams contract...
^^^ It is a good read and long and worthwhile. In Trying to Build Lakers' Future, Steve Nash Has Paid High Cost to His Present By Kevin Ding, NBA Senior Writer Mar 12, 2015 Steve Nash was offered one last opportunity to don an official NBA uniform Wednesday and join the 2014-15 Los Angeles Lakers team photo. He declined. Go ahead, haters. Wind up to hurl more venom at Nash for not even supporting the club that is paying him nearly $10 million this season after all the other disappointment he has brought. I'd rather clear the air that has been so wrongly polluted. The only reason Nash isn't retired from basketball already, having put it all behind him, is so he could try to help the Lakers. Nash was ready to call it a career before the season. After deep soul-searching to accept his body does not belong in an official NBA uniform any longer, he wasn't just out for the season. He was, and is, done. The Lakers asked Nash not to announce anything, according to team sources. They hoped they could trade Nash's $9.7 million salary, not only an expiring contract but also a giant coupon for another club to take and immediately save real dollars via insurance, to get a building block for the Lakers' future. Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press Fully aware how little he has given the Lakers since arriving in 2012, Nash agreed to do them a solid. He would put off his official retirement announcement and remain a member of the Lakers this season in name only. He would, in the process, incur even more of the wrath of frustrated Lakers fans seeing the "greedy" Nash as the face of the Lakers' flops after Dwight Howard's departure. Nash had no duty to be around the team this season, folks. He wasn't dodging or conning anyone. He was retired, as the Lakers brass knew, and he was trying to come to grips with that after having fought harder against it than just about anyone—certainly anyone who accomplished as much as he did in the NBA. In reality, the Lakers and Nash went about this in the way mature people handle terrible breaks: Do the best you can with a bad hand. Even though expiring contracts aren't worth nearly what they once were in the NBA marketplace, there was logic to think the Lakers could make a deal. The goal was a classic Lakers trade where some smaller-market team wants to save money and the Lakers don't care so much—or that a club such as the Philadelphia 76ers could use Nash's insurance-offset contract shrewdly to reach the salary-cap floor of minimum payroll—while bringing in an asset. (The Lakers don't have too many of those since their all-in deals to acquire Howard and Nash.) Nash would get paid in any case, no matter the combination of medical insurance or actual Lakers money. He would've even gotten a little more from the Lakers if traded via a 15 percent trade kicker in his contract. Alex Gallardo/Associated Press What was missing, alas, was a public celebration of all that mature thinking because the Lakers weren't able to make a trade using Nash's contract by the Feb. 19 deadline. So there was no payoff, which makes it emblematic of Nash's Lakers tenure: logical, earnest steps taken with the best of hopes and intentions...and simply no results. What Nash has accomplished is working recently with fast-improving Lakers rookie guard Jordan Clarkson. The film work, on-court tutelage and timely text messages have been priceless, Clarkson said. Nash also intends to link up with Julius Randle, now on the practice court after breaking his leg on opening night, to tutor the current cornerstone of the Lakers' rebuild. Given that Nash's actual affiliation to Clarkson and Randle is limited to spending a few weeks together in training camp, his lessons have come solely from a willingness to help out in building the Lakers' future. It's not his job or his responsibility, same as it won't be if NBA friends such as Goran Dragic or Kevin Durant give Nash the chance to sell the Lakers as a future free-agent destination. Nash knows the Lakers tried with him, the Lakers know he tried for them, and both sides therefore are unwavering in their mutual respect. Nash, 41, is committed to raising his family in Manhattan Beach, so Lakers fans will continue to see him around town as a retiree. All of them would be wise to join that circle of maturity and show the man some respect. Nash would appreciate it. He is a connector in life with the third-most assists in NBA history and probably the highest percentage of high-fives with teammates in league history, too. USA TODAY Sports He makes actual eye contact and conversation with NBA worker bees and offers a smile to anyone whose path crosses his. I'll never forget a Target Center locker-room attendant saying after Nash walked out one February night in Minnesota: "Who's a better guy than he is? The best." Yet Nash's shame is not that he failed anyone in the community. What drove him into a dark period while missing most of last season was his own profound disappointment, not public humiliation. Yes, he explained how hard he tried to come back in a Facebook post after he had posted an ill-advised Instagram video of himself hitting golf balls, but the whole reason he shared that video was because he's not the type to get caught up in what people might think of him. He has been an easy target for frustrated fans because he kept putting himself out there over and over instead of taking the easy way out and giving up. He has been willing to compromise wherever necessary to keep alive his desire to play, even if in retrospect he should've surrendered to the nerve damage suffered in just his second game as a Laker. Don't forget that he did get somewhat healthy to play under Mike D'Antoni with the Lakers, yet Nash then acquiesced to Kobe Bryant being D'Antoni's point guard because the team was doing better with the ball in Bryant's hands. USA TODAY Sports Nash has allowed everyone to see his vulnerability. He has owned it. Knowing how half-speed he has looked, flailing more than ever on defense, putting the perception of his legend at such risk...whatever. He has tried to make it work. That's who Nash has been in his career, though—diving in with complete commitment to extract everything from his talent. If he hadn't been daring enough to keep trying against the odds, he would've let the absence of major college recruiters long ago or his congenital back condition even longer ago stop him from accomplishing all he has. The way it has ended for Nash has damaged the Lakers, no question. This might be the worst season in franchise history: The Lakers' victory Tuesday pushed their current winning percentage to .270, momentarily better than the Minneapolis Lakers' .264 in 1957-58. It has ended for Nash, but he knows it hasn't for the Lakers—which is why he postponed his retirement to try to help. There's little he didn't try to make it work. Because it hasn't, no one's ending has been sadder to see. If you understand and respect honest effort, though, no one's ending has been braver, either.
I guess we should have expected this kind of twisted logic and revisionist articles considering Nash has been one of the most popular and media-loved NBA players in the last 20 years. As far as I'm concerned, Nash was a bigger disaster for the Lakersä organization than Smush freaking Parker. That's how salty I am about him. For me he never really was a Laker and will remain the leader of the Suns teams I hated so much back in the day.
Yeah. I was just never a Nash guy. The fact hehas two MVPs when Kobe, Shaq, etc only have one will always bother me. I tried to get behind him when he arrived here but now he is just another symbol of this horrible chapter in Laker history. The terms of that deal literally has our fanbase doing the unthinkable, praying for losses. The Ding article reeks of revisionist history to me because it glosses over Nash's own stAtements about sticking around for the money. Also, I know I was supposed to be moved by his retirement letter but I just wasn't. So yeah, goodbye to Phoenix Sun legend Steve Nash.
I can't hate too much on Nash. Incredible player. Wish it would have worked. Still hoping that he will stick around in some coaching capacity for us since he's been working with Clarkson and it's been paying dividends.
It makes sense for him to do it. Loves the game and you'd think is the kind of player that enjoys sharing and teaching his elite mental and physical skills to players with high potential. Plus he set up roots in Manhattan Beach (I think). One of the beaches. And ..... ding ding ding ..... he can do it for the money.
Get us Dragic and Durant and I guarantee no Laker fan will ever utter another ill word about you. We might even build you a statue.
hopefully this won't cut into his time with JC and (maybe) Russell. Wish we'd just go ahead and officially add him to the staff as a non traveling specialist/assistant. Don't even need him at the games. Just training camp, maybe a couple pre season games, some practices and during off days if any of our young work horses want to get some extra reps in.