In the great history of the National Basketball Association, there may never have been a more unlikely Most Valuable Player winner than Steve Nash.
And the man won twice.
Now 34, and without a ring on the finger, Steve Nash might be looking at the end being nearer than he likes.
Perhaps Nash will not be undone by his own physical limitations, having age and a chronically bad back working against him, but possibly by a roster that will drive him to the end.
The Suns have been accepted as a fun team and nothing more. They have not garnered respect over the past few seasons for their up-tempo, run-and-gun style, predicated by the smooth, fierce Nash.
Sure, people love the style, but the critics frown upon it because defense wins championships. It is not playoff type basketball, which is usually when the game slows down and the boring half court set takes over.
Maybe you’ve heard that the Suns brought in Shaquille O’Neal? Maybe you’ve also heard that it hasn’t worked so well in the early going.
With all of the negatives on his side, Nash has persevered through it all.
Even though he has not won a championship, he has brought the Suns back to an elite level, along with mastermind Mike D’Antoni.
This year, he has kept the team afloat with his dynamic leadership skills.
Even still, something always seems to go wrong at the worst time for Nash and his team.
In the 2005 playoffs, the Suns were the number one seed in the West and lost to the Spurs after sharpshooter Joe Johnson went down with an untimely injury, and the Suns went down.
In 2006, Amare Stoudemire missed the entire season due to Microfracture surgery on his knee. The Suns went on to have an incredible regular season, yet their demise came at the hands of the Mavericks in the conference finals. They ran out of gas.
In 2007, the Suns were once again a team poised to make noise. But when Robert Horry leveled Steve Nash into the scorers table in game 4, leading to suspensions for Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw being suspended the following game for leaving the bench, it changed the complexion of the series. The Suns were eliminated in six.
Will this year be different? If their track record is any indication of how things will go in the next few months, then it doesn’t look good.
Nash is having himself another stellar campaign, averaging over 17 points and 11 assists per game. But it may not be enough to get over the proverbial hump.
It seems that the fun is over.
Currently, the Suns sit as the 6th seed out West, which is stacked with playoff contenders this season.
They have had internal turmoil all season, culminating with the trade of Shawn Marion, who was thought of to be a cancer to the locker room for his me-first attitude and unwillingness to be thought of as the third wheel to Nash and Stoudemire.
In comes O’Neal, on the downturn of an illustrious career, poised to be another cog in the fast-paced Phoenix Suns game plan.
The project has yet to work for the Suns as they have gone 3-6 with Shaq in the lineup.
The playoffs aren’t even a certainty.
The Suns are a cap strapped team and Nash is only getting older. The window for a title with this team is becoming extremely tight, unless they have something up their sleeve for the postseason.
We all know Phoenix can be a force to be reckoned with on any night, but the flair and passion seems to have been sucked out of the team due to countless “almosts” and “could haves”. They almost beat the Spurs in ’05, had Joe Johnson not been badly injured. If Amare is not sidelined the entire ’06 season, maybe they get through on the back of their big man. If Robert Horry doesn’t give Nash a check into the boards last year, all of these may be moot points.
But the fact remains; the Suns have not gotten it done. And all of these almosts and could haves can start to wear on a player like Nash.
He has given it his all during these great Phoenix years, but with that comes a toll. The body begins to crumble, and the psyche can be worn out.
Hopefully the Suns surprise a lot of folks and get to the title this year. Steve Nash deserves it. If not for his great skill and tireless work ethic, than for his work off the court. Because he has given his all, not just to the game, but to the world.
Nash has played recently in shoes made of recycled garbage, as way to promote environmental consciousness.
The Steve Nash foundation has helped children all over the world that are affected by poverty, illness or abuse.
Steve Nash is a good guy. He also deserves better on the court.
So maybe the end is nearing, the sun setting on an incredible career that many said wouldn’t happen. One of the great ambassadors of the game of basketball is playing at a high level for now, and we can only hope that it stays this way for many more years.
However, what happens around him is out of his hands.
The trades, the injuries, the shortcomings and the “almosts” and “could haves” are beyond his power, on and off the court.
So, will this year be the year that the Suns silence the critics?
If Steve Nash has anything to say about it, then yes.
But the rest is out of his control.
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