ESPN Insider tells how Nash to L.A. came together

If you were using the weekend to apply a healing salve to
cool the sting that was the Phoenix Suns agreeing to a
sign-and-trade deal to send the most popular player in
their history to the Los Angeles Lakers for draft picks,
sorry. That sting may return.

Marc Stein of ESPN sat down with Nash to
chronicle how things went from being hard to put on a
Lakers jersey to actually putting on a Lakers jersey.

We’ve now heard Nash give his explanation to both Stein
and an ESPN Radio 710’s Max Kellerman and Mychal Thompson,
but the two-time MVP hasn’t turned up anywhere on the
Phoenix radio airwaves to break down the trade.

Nash did offer a 27-second voice message via
social media
to the fans of Phoenix, but when he was reached via
telephone by Arizona Sports 620 producer Bryan Gibberman
last Friday, he was “too swamped” to spend a few minutes
on the Burns & Gambo show.

Anyway, Stein’s piece chronicles the lavish efforts of
both the Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks to land the
prized free agent, and their persistence in trying to make
it happen quickly.

I was really close at times to being a Raptor
or Knick. Really close. I’ve always wanted to play for the
Knicks, and to go home to Toronto was a dream opportunity
in a lot of different ways.

The article also details the Suns’ initial reluctance to
consent to a deal that would benefit the Lakers so
greatly, the full court press put on Robert Sarver and his
front office and their ultimate agreement.

As much as it may hurt to read the inner workings of the
deal that came together, it is a pretty fascinating read.

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