As Steve Nash’s retirement came out there was a time to reflect what was and what could have been. Recently, news came out that the Cleveland Cavaliers would’ve been interested in Nash if he agreed to a buyout with the Lakers. Now it appears his final coach, Byron Scott, wants people to take a step back and look at the big picture of Nash’s career.
Following from ESPN.com’s Baxter Holmes.
“He did everything possible to get on the court,” Scott said. “I think [critics] should really take that into consideration. It didn’t work out. But take a look at everything he’s done over the course of his career, and look at him that way — not at what ended up happening here.”
When Nash was declared out for the season, the Lakers gave him space, rather than asking him to be present at games or practices. But his absence still drew the ire of fans.
“I thought he needed time to kind of start really focusing on the next part of his life,” Scott said. “Sometimes guys can’t be around it. It’s that much harder for them. I don’t think anybody here in the organization faults him for not being around because like I said, I think we all understand — especially myself and [Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak], who are ex-basketball players who’ve been in this business for a long time — we all understand that sometimes guys need that peace away from the game to kind of get their head right and just kind of figure out what they’re going to do with the rest of their lives.”
Scott is right in this thinking. Don’t hold it against Nash for what his body elected to do to him, it’s not his fault. You can understand why the fans of the Lakers would be upset due to the fact Nash has only played 60 games in his last 3 seasons under contract with LA. It’s not like Nash got hurt on purpose, it’s hard for a man who’s 40 and has played over 42,000 career NBA minutes alone. His body just shut down so he retired when it was time for him to go.
The real issue Lakers fans might have is the fact that they sacrificed any kind of potential future by trading 2 first round picks and 2 second rounders to the Phoenix Suns. 2013’s pick didn’t end up being anything special but the 2015 pick now is in the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers and the Lakers could possibly lose it if Los Angeles falls out of the top 5 in the draft lottery. It was a classic case of sacrificing the future for the idea of the present, proven talent.
