PHOENIX SUNS

Steve Nash is fine with him being a Laker even if you’re not

Jul 5, 2012, 6:43 PM | Updated: Jul 6, 2012, 5:40 pm

Steve Nash spent a good portion of his career doing
everything he could to beat Kobe Bryant and the Los
Angeles Lakers, as the Suns had many a playoff battle with
one of their biggest rivals.

So it goes without saying his decision to join the dark
side has a lot of Suns fans upset, even if the two-time
MVP maintains it was the best place for him.

“I think for everyone, including myself, it’s a surprise,”
Nash told ESPN 710 AM in Los Angeles about joining the
Lakers. “I think things happen, and first and foremost
when the Suns decided to go in a new direction, I was
obviously looking for a new home.

“And the opportunity to be close to my kids was so
exciting for me.”

Yeah, sure.

Nash also said this is a good fit on the basketball court,
which remains to be seen.

However, as much as Suns fans wanted to see Nash join a
contender and have a shot at winning a championship, no
one wanted to see it happen in Los Angeles. Yet, that’s
exactly what’s going to happen.

Apparently Nash isn’t as “old school” as he once said he was.

“The reality is it was too good an opportunity to pass up
as far as my children were concerned,” Nash admitted. “And
fortunate for me it’s a great basketball situation.”

Let’s give Nash the benefit of the doubt and assume he
really is surprised with how this all went down. The point
guard said he spoke with Bryant over the couple days prior
to his decision, and is convinced this pairing will work.

“For me, it was important to speak to him just to make
sure he was completely on board, and he can kind of
visualize this as being a good fit and being excited about
it,” Nash said of Bryant.

You’ll have to excuse Suns fans for not feeling the same
way, as they are now in the tough position of possibly
rooting for Nash to succeed while the Lakers fail.

Then again, the latter part of that sentence does not seem
likely right now, because not only are the Lakers still
good, but they seem like a team that could win a
championship.

And while seeing Nash hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy was a
sight every Suns fan once wanted, that’s not exactly the
case now. Which may be the one place Nash and Suns fans
can agree on at this point:

Nash winning a title would not be too big a deal, as it
would not define his career.

“I want to win, I want to win bad,” Nash said. “But I’m
not going to be haunted…if I retire today I wouldn’t be
haunted by the fact that I never won, I gave it a heck of
a shot.”

Good for you, Steve, because the sight of you in purple
and gold is going to haunt Suns fans for the next few
years.

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Steve Nash is fine with him being a Laker even if you’re not