Steve Nash: Joining the Dark Side, or Improving the Quality of the Entire League?

 LOS ANGELES, or anywhere but MIAMI-   Before obeying the natural human instinct  to lament or scorn the successful acquisition of Steve Nash by the freakin Lakers, everyone -perhaps even Phoenix Suns fans and their broken hearts- can take solace in the fact Nash did not take his talents to the Evil Empire in South Beach. The Heat are too loaded as it is and already have a solid point guard in Mario Chalmers at about one-fifth Steve Nash’s age. Also, it appears that David Stern, the invisible hand that guides, gropes or smacks down all transactions in the NBA, has bigger plans than a Nash-in-Miami scenario and there are not any fiscal reasons to dread Steve Nash joining the Lakers.

There once was a time when the Lakers were THE MAN. Loved by their many fair-weather fans nation wide, hated by most other teams’ fans and various respectable human beings. They regularly appeared in the playoffs and the Finals and won almost effortlessly no matter how much Frobe and Shaq hated each other, or how much better the 2002 Kings were than the Lakers. When Jerry West was allowed by His Majesty David Stern to run the table for Los Angeles, he lured Shaq away from Penny Hardaway and Orlando simply with the prospect of filming Kazaam and a stale dough-nut, tricked the Charlotte Hornets into trading away 17 year-old Kobe Bryant in an exchange similar to how the Dutch acquired Manhattan from natives (Vlade Divac was a good center and a great passer for a big man, but in a trade for Kobe, he’s the dinky Dutch coins in the analogy), secured perhaps the greatest coach in NBA history and his triangle offense, and bought the contract of any overpaid player they wanted and ruled the league for years.

 The real reason boomboxes and cassette tapes went out of style in the late 90’s is because people were too afraid that Shaq would appear and do something awful like start trying to rap again. –the makers of Kazaam

      The LA bodies of fresh water are only a couple years removed from their last title and are still loaded with talent around Kobe, but a couple months ago they found themselves to be no better than fourth or fifth best team in their own conference during this year’s playoffs. That still wont make them sympathetic to anyone or worthy of Nash, but the Lakers are no longer the NBA’s Yankees.  Now the league has to answer to a team formed by championship chasing collusion; A team so loaded with superstar talent and bargain veteran ring chasers, it all but abolished the need for a head coach. The Heat finally squashed their critics, meaning those who prefer justice in the NBA and “haters” alike, by capturing the NBA title many decent people hoped would elude LebRogaine James forever.

 

.      Nothing could stop the Heat in the playoffs: Chicago’s loss was their gain, they overcame the wise, elderly, senior partners from the Boston firm, and then bested the up and coming hotshots from the firm in OKC (a firm that picked off its roster from a distinguished Seattle firm who had originally signed young talent fresh from acing their Bar exams, but enough with the crap-awful lawyer analogy) and the Heat already seemed poised to do it again immediately after the trophy ceremony/mass-booing of Stuart Scott and David Stern. How often does a team win it all on only their second attempt at a title and we can say they “finally” met expectations? In unnecessary response to that seemingly rhetorical question, not very often. It is not very often that a team assembles with a roster overhaul so quickly with such a vile amount of talent from its superstars, and supporting talent from its former Memphis Grizzlies players. Thank goodness Steve Nash did not add to that massive talent pool and make it even harder next year for a team to usurp the current champs. If something as dull as Canadian origins prevents the US Olympic team from getting its hands on Nash’s point-guardly prowess, then no way is it ok for Miami to snatch him up to be the next ’06 Heat Gary Payton, as a former star, veteran point guard in his late thirties that helps win in a reduced role.  That would be annoying and frustrating for all because Nash is still putting up amazing numbers in his late 30’s, shooting a career best 53% last season.  As a supporter of the Griz, another western-conference team hoping to become a title contender,  I can’t say that this is an ideal scenario or that I’m excited that Steve Nash landed with the Lakers, but I can easily provide a 3 prong response as to why this is a great for the NBA. It benefits Steve Nash’s already impressive NBA career, the Los Angeles Lakers franchise (duh who cares?), and ultimately, the entire league.

Why this is Good for Steve Nash:

         Nash told members of the media that, for him, the decision of Los Angeles was ideal because it will allow him to be near his three children in Phoenix, and it will afford him opportunities for championships.  Hard to argue with an athlete who tops his priority list with family, and then winning titles. Nash missed out on championships with some very talented Suns teams, and Mavericks teams. Nash himself has watched with a bloody face from the sidelines while his team was defeated in the Western Conference Finals. He has seen Amare and Joe Johnson suspended or hurt when the team almost made it to the Finals without their all-star post player or shooter. In Los Angeles Steve Nash will be bringing the ball up court and setting up plays for the most talented supporting cast he has seen since  Amare, Shawn Marion, and Joe Johnson in those high-scoring Suns squads, and even more talented than the young Mavericks team that won 60 games behind the trio of Nash, Michael Finley, and Dirk Nowitzki.

 While Nash’s performance has not declined with his play, he still likely only has a couple more seasons left in the tank pending a slow Farve-like exit from the game. No one blames Nash for his decision because, as far as we know, he made it with his family in mind, with integrity,dignity and class, and no televised decisions. He did more for the Suns franchis than anyone has in the last decade. He played inspiring basketball and gave Phoenix 8 good seasons, 2 of them MVP perfomances, while playing every single one of those games as though he were in the Finals. However, for the last couple seasons it has seemed the Suns have been moving more towards rebuilding through young talent than moving towards the Finals or even the playoffs for that matter. Many in Phoenix will be sad to see him go, but they should not be dissatisfied with the effort and entertainment he gave them every time he laced up his WNBA sized basketball sneakers. Rather than jumping into the depths of the roster of the determined-to-repeat Heat, he will make LA a contender instantly.

Why this is Good for the Lakers:

        Acquiring Steve Nash is the greatest move the Lakers have made since relocating with George Mikan from Minneapolis. It’s such a great addition it almost assuages the pain Lakers faithful endured when Luke Walton was dealt away.  The Lakers recognize Nash is a rare-breed of basketball player who is both a sensationally gifted passer and shooting threat  to help facilitate his team mates’ offense so well that he can make even the scrubbiest of bench-warming scrubs look good with an assist here or there. Imagine how that play-making ability will complement the likes of Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum, and possibly Pau Gasol should the Lakers retain his services.

He will fill an extremely valuable need for the Lakers, that they tried and failed to fill with Chris Paul, and most recently attempted to correct with Raymond Sessions to little avail. The Lakers have known for a while how badly they need to improve at point guard, as this is simultaneously their only true weakness at any position, and the position that can help Kobe the most by assisting with the back-court duties.  Seriously, other than Derek Fisher, try to name  the starting point guards the Lakers have had since Magic Johnson retired. It would be like trying to list the quarterbacks the Browns have tried starting since Tim Couch.  Nick Van Exel, who was actually a team mate of Magic’s during his brief HIV positive comeback, is the only all-star caliber point guard in nearly 20 years. It’s incredibly difficult to try to recall the other starters because even the starting point guards, like Derek Fisher, have been less talented floor generals that would have been useful on any roster but certainly back-ups on most, like that time a starting point guard named Smush was the nubmer 2 scoring option during the worst year of Kobe’s career?  When Phil Jackson was orchestrating his triangle offense with Kobe and Shaq, or Kobe and Odom and Gasol, all he needed at the point guard was a consistent but average facilitator who could help run the offense and hit the occasional wide open jump shot, like an aging Ron Harper leftover from Jackson’s Bulls legacy*.   They didn’t have to go for the most talented PG, they just needed someone who fit the system and could tolerate Kobe.

 

Nick Van Exel running the point beautifully

         Kobe is still somewhere in the top four most talented players in the league depending on what night, but he can be a bit of an entitled spoiled brat at times who pouts, becomes visibly angry with his own team mates and coach, and spends too much time working the officials instead of getting back on defense. Kobe likes to be the main guy who has the ball at crucial possessions and crunch time, but he is also like your office/workplace martyr who clearly shows how upset he/she is about doing so much work, yet insists on doing that amount of work and refuses to delegate or share the workload with others when offered, seemingly to choose having a justified chip on the shoulder rather than collective success. With Nash, Kobe will have a very talented backcourt mate he can trust to share the work load with and view him as equal, as much as Kobe can view another human as equal to himself. Bryant is smart enough to realize that Nash will make Kobe’s job easier and his team mates better by creating opportunities for them. Kobe can hit a turn around jumper with two defenders in his face, but hopefully he wont have to with Steve Nash on the floor with him.

Charming, I guess.

Nash is  the kind of leader and positive energy force that can really bolster the attitude and culture of the team and should Gasol still be around, he might have the most to gain as his confidence and mojo would be fully reinstated after receiving some great entry passes to the post and no-looks while he is open under the basket.There really are not too many players whose game would not be complemented by Nash’s style of play.  It also seems likely that after having the opportunity to spend a complete summer and a full training camp preparing and adjusting, this squad could really soar (cheesiest verb choice possible?) under Mike Brown.

 

Also we can’t forget what it will be like for Nash to become part of the Hollywood Buzz that surrounds the Lakers. Both regular faces in the NBA for what seems like eons, Old timers Jack Nicholson and Steve Nash will enjoy in-game opportunities to reminisce about the roaring good times and red rum they shared at ballroom parties during the prohibition era.

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Why this is Good for the entire NBA:

 .        For the loyal devotees/very bored few of you who have also stumbled upon my first and second  posts about draft conspiracies, you know as well as I do that there is only one true general manager in the NBA, one great and almighty puppeteer who arranged for all of this to happen:

(photo from Clutchfans.net)

Unfortunately and unfairly for Commisioner David Stern, the questionable bully tactics or inhumane actions of many of his peers -Chavez, Mussolini, Castro, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong Il, Qadaffi, Disney- have really earned a bad rap for terms like “dictator”or “NBA commissioner”. Understandably for many basketball peasants like us, Stern nixing last season’s proposed trade that would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers and Pau Gasol to the Rockets may have seemed like an unfair denial from a shrewd totalitarian who couldn’t relinquish even a Spud Webb-sized modicum of his control and power. But if you think that, you are really doubting the planning and strategy of the Master and Commander, and failing to see the benevolence that pervades Stern’s totalitarianism. He knew that last year if Chris Paul went to the Clippers rather than the Lakers, it would mean having two successful playoff teams in the league’s most profitable large market city with double the payout. Love them or hate them, the Lakers carry the league financially in television and media, merchandise, and ticket sales not only in Los Angeles but in every city. With Steve Nash on a roster with Kobe, Andrew Bynum, the artist formerly known as Artest, and maybe Gasol, ole Dave D-Money Stern knows perfectly well that this amped-up Lakers team will sell out games from Toronto to Cleveland to Washington D.C. I can vividly remember seeing full page ads, by the Memphis Grizzlies when they were at their worst, in the Commercial Appeal sports section attempting to market other team’s visiting superstars like Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’neal, Tracy McGrady, and Allen Iverson to sell tickets. And it worked. The grizzlies could be 40 games out of 1st place in the conference, but they were going to have a sellout crowd on hand for when the leagues best visited the Bluff City. Like the Heat in their first season with Lebron, D-Wade and Dinosaur Jr Bosh, every team’s fanbase is going to turn out in droves in hopes of seeing their team beat a Lakers team that has assembled a seemingly unfair amount of talent, and also simply to see Steve Nash put on show with all of those capable co-stars. I know when the Grizzlies take on the Steve Nash edition of the Lakers I want to be there and see Memphis come out on top, preferably with Marc Gasol dunking on Pau Gasol.

“STEVE NASH!”

*= P.S. while Scotty Pippen and MJ and I guess even Luc Longley were too cool for school, Bulls point guard Ron Harper made childhood good when he guest starred on Kenan and Kel, which was supposed to be set in Chicago. Besides, Harper is more Nickelodian appropriate than Rodman.