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Nash's closing words ... for year or as a Sun

Suns guard Steve Nash spoke for 10 minutes following the team’s losing finale Wednesday night at US Airways Center. Here is everything he said:

On the home fans’ fourth-quarter “We want Steve” chant: "It was obviously amazing to get that type of reception and support. It's very special because it's not something I asked for or imagined. To get that type of spontaneous reaction means it's authentic, the relationship I thought we had. It’s great. It really feels special. The fans have been phenomenal and it's meant a lot to me to play in a city like this for as long as I have and to feel important to the fans and the community. I just feel like a very lucky guy."

On his emotions entering Wednesday night's finale: “First, I must admit that I’m not the most sentimental person in the world. It’s something I shy away from more than try to soak it up and get emotional. To be honest, I really didn’t get a chance to think about it. If this were to be my last game, it would be a night I’ll remember. It’ll be an important night for me. I didn’t get a lot of moments to put that in perspective because we were playing for our lives last night and coming back in the middle of the night and getting the kids from school and stuff like that, it’s not like you have a lot of time to sit around and put your career in perspective. I just wanted to play hard and go out on a good note for this season.”

On his next career move: “I’m going to have to obviously sit down and consider my options and maybe predict and evaluate possibilities but I’m in no rush. I think it’s important to take my time and just gain some perspective on what’s happened in my career and what the future may hold. Just a lot of speculation at this point.”

On what he needs to see from Suns management to stay: “For me, I just want our team to be as competitive as possible if I were to return. We’ll see. There are a lot of factors involved and I’ll get a chance to sit down and evaluate them all at some point.”

On the chances of him staying in Phoenix: “Honestly, I have no clue. I couldn’t predict. I don’t know what the future holds at this point. And I’m actually OK with that. I think now’s the time to maybe get some distance from it and try to find a clear perspective on where I am. Until I do that, I couldn’t put a number on it or take a guess on what the chances are on whether I’ll be back or not.”

On his desire to play three more years: “I’d like to play three more years. I’m flexible. I want to see what’s the best situation for me and we’ll see what happens.”

On the importance of winning: “Winning and being competitive and being part of a good environment, those are the top.”

On going through this process in 2004: “In a lot of ways, I feel like I’ve done everything before at this stage of my career. This is still a new moment because every moment is unto itself. We could talk all night and maybe I would never give you a straight answer because I don’t really know. I appreciate the interest and I appreciate that people are excited for whatever comes next and also interested in what my future holds. It’s very flattering.”

On the oddity of having his future up in the air after eight years in Phoenix: “Just the fact that I’m unattached in a way coming out of the NBA season is strange. I’ve been here eight years. It’s flown by. It doesn’t feel like eight years. It’s incredible. The seasons blend into one and sometimes you don’t realize how long of a period it’s been. It is strange.”

On what he thinks the Suns need: “It depends on your method and philosophy but I think the team could use more playmakers. It depends on your strategy. You could go for bigs. You could go for a consistent 20-a-game scorer. Or you could go for a few more playmakers at different positions. There are different philosophies and different ways to go about it. The team and the club need to really analyze what their philos0phy is moving forward and put a contingency plan together to build the best team. It'll be an interesting period."

On the job Coach Alvin Gentry did: “I think Alvin was unbelievable this year. If you think about it, Michael Redd was a late signing and hadn’t played for two years. So other than Michael Redd, I think Grant and I are the only guys who had really been NBA starters before. There were quite a few new guys this year too. For Alvin to put all those pieces together, for all our flaws and faults, he put us together. When we were 12-19, he didn’t let us quit. We were 12-19 and we really didn’t have a lot of answers at that point either. It wasn’t like, ‘Hey, we’re going to get better. We’re going to get better at this, that and the other.” It was like, ‘I’m not sure we’re going to get better at any of this stuff but he wouldn’t let us relent. He was phenomenal. I love playing for Alvin. I think he’s a great coach.”

On how he will remember this season: “This is a rewarding year. This is a positive season. Obviously, I’m used to playing in the playoffs. That’s important to me. We took it about as far as we could this year. It’s inevitable with the change and from some of our flaws, that we weren’t going to have a good start. We needed time. We struggled. The most important thing is the coaches stuck with us and never let us give up and found a way to make the pieces work to be greater than the sum of the parts and here we are with a chance to get in the playoffs and here we are with a chance to get in the playoffs and here we are ending .500, which is pretty fitting. We hung in there. There is reward to be had. It’s not the championship. It’s not the playoffs so we’re disappointed in that. But at the same time, when you look at it, we were greater than the sum of our parts. We had a lot of guys who sacrificed and fought and made this a pretty good year.”

On his health: “I actually feel pretty good. There’s no question it takes its toll. The NBA season is notoriously rigorous as it is but this year was crazy. From Saturday was 13 games in 19 nights. The fact that we’re going out there and playing at a pretty good clip, a clip that was just about to make the playoffs, is very acceptable. So, personally, I feel encouraged. Maybe with an elongated season and a little bit more rest, I could even play at a higher level.”

On how he would want to be remembered as a Sun: “I always hope people think of me as a competitor and a great teammate and a winner. If I’m fortunate enough for people to think of me that way as a Sun, then I’m very flattered.”

Steve Nash reflects on his future after playing what feels like his final game with the Suns

Brett Pollakoff
Apr 26, 2012, 3:51 AM EDT


The Suns played the Spurs in the team’s season finale on Wednesday, but the outcome of the game meant less than nothing to either of the participants. With the game taking place in Phoenix, the focus was entirely on Steve Nash, who is an unrestricted free agent heading into next season, and might very well have played his last game as a member of the Phoenix Suns.

Phoenix was eliminated from the playoff picture the night before, losing a hard-fought game in Utah where the team was ultimately overmatched. Their fate was sealed, as was that of the visiting Spurs, who had already clinched the one seed in the West.

(The key members of this San Antonio team had no interest in even seeing this game in person; after a full morning practice, Gregg Popovich, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker all caught a plane home to get some rest before the postseason begins.)

What hasn’t yet been determined, and likely won’t be for quite some time, is the team that Nash will be playing for at the beginning of next season. While he’s been as open and honest about his decision-making process as possible, even Nash himself doesn’t know if he’ll be back in Phoenix next season.

The sense, though, is that he won’t be.

Suns fans showed their appreciation for Nash at the beginning of the evening, giving him a huge, much-louder-than-normal cheer during the introduction of starting lineups. But their spontaneous chants for him late in the game were even more meaningful.

The Phoenix faithful began a loud, passionate “We want Steve!” chant with just over five minutes remaining in the game, after Nash had started and played the first eight minutes of the contest, and then the first nine minutes of the third quarter. He appeared to be done for the evening, but as the fans rose to their feet and the chants got louder, Nash eventually subbed in briefly to take a well-deserved curtain call.

After eight years with the franchise, he deserved it. And he was clearly touched by the fans’ gesture, as he spoke thoughtfully about it afterward.

“It was obviously amazing to get that type of reception and support,” Nash said. “It’s very special. It’s not something I asked for or imagined, and to get that type of spontaneous reaction … It’s authentic, the relationship that I thought we had. It really feels special and the fans have been phenomenal and it really meant a lot to me to play in a city like this for as long as I have to feel important to the fans and the community, I just feel like a very lucky guy.”

Nash wasn’t feeling particularly sentimental heading into Wednesday night’s finale — partly because he didn’t have time to think about it, and partly because that’s just not who he is.

“I must admit, I’m not the most sentimental person in the world,” he said. “It’s something I shy away from more than try to soak it up and get emotional. To be honest I really didn’t get a chance to think about it. If this were to be my last game, it’ll be a night I remember and it’ll be an important night for me, but I didn’t get a lot of moments to put that in perspective because we were playing for our lives last night. And coming back in the middle of the night and getting the kids from school and stuff like that, it’s not like you have a lot of time to try and sit around and put your career in perspective.”

Nash has maintained that the idea of returning to Phoenix next season is more than just being polite; it’s a legitimate option. It’s tough to envision, though, given how much the team relied on him to do it all this season, and yet still fell short of making it to the playoffs.

At 38 years of age, it’s no longer reasonable to rely on Nash to be the sole provider of offense for this or any team; he’s going to need some help. I asked Suns head coach Alvin Gentry if it was too much to ask of Nash at this point in his career to carry such a large burden, and he seemed to think that it was.

“You’re right, I don’t think you can ask him to do that,” Gentry said. “I don’t think you can ask him to make all the plays down the stretch, I don’t think you can ask him to be the guy to facilitate all the plays, or make the shot or anything like that. Obviously, he needs help. You can’t do it alone in this league; no one’s ever been able to do it alone, not even Michael Jordan. You have to have other guys that you can continuously count on.”

The Suns, as currently constructed, don’t have anyone who you can continuously count on. The roster needs some serious upgrades if the team is going to compete in the playoffs; among the glaring needs are a reliable scorer who can create their own shots and average in the neighborhood of 20 points per game from either the wing or the low post, and a legitimate big man who can dominate inside — either offensively or defensively. Because at the moment, the Suns have no one who can do that on either end of the floor.

Personnel will certainly be a factor for Nash in determining whether or not to stay in Phoenix, but coaching definitely won’t be. Gentry is a players’ coach and knows how to deal with veterans, and Nash had nothing but positive things to say about the job he did with the talent he was handed this season.

“I think Alvin was unbelievable this year,” Nash said. “Michael Redd was a late signing, he hadn’t played for two years, if I’m not mistaken. So other than Michael Redd, (Grant Hill) and I are the only guys who have really started, and have been NBA starters before. And there were quite a few new guys this year, too. So for Alvin to put all those pieces together, for all our flaws and faults, to put us together and when we were 12-19 not let us quit — because really, we were 12-19 and we didn’t have a lot of answers at that point, either. It wasn’t like, ‘Hey, we’re going to get better at this that and the other,’ it was more like, ‘I’m not sure if we’re going to get better at any of this stuff.’ But he wouldn’t let us relent and he was phenomenal. I love playing for Alvin, I think he’s a great coach.”

That’s one thing the Suns have going for them, but there are too many factors going against them that lead you to believe that Nash has played his last game for the Phoenix franchise.

Nash himself is still non-committal, and truly seems open to returning to Phoenix if the pieces fall into place. But no relevant free agent is going to commit to the Suns without assurances that Nash will be back, and Nash won’t come back unless the talent level is upgraded significantly. So at this point, he can’t begin to predict his chances of re-signing in Phoenix.

“Honestly, I have no clue,” Nash said of his chances of staying with the Suns. “I couldn’t predict, I don’t know what the future holds at this point, and I’m actually OK with that. Now is the time to maybe get some distance from it, and try to find a clear perspective on where I am. Until I do that, I couldn’t put a number on it or take a guess on what the chances are that I’ll be back or not.”

Nash may not yet know what he wants. But the scene in Phoenix on Wednesday suggested that his time playing for the Suns has become a thing of the past.

Seth Pollack wrote:Steve will do what he thinks is best, but for the Suns the decision to want Steve back comes down to this:

Does bringing him back help you rebuild or hurt.

If you bring him back and give him money that prevents you from getting good pieces to build around, then it’s bad.

But, if you can bring him back and not take away from your ability to get the players you want then you are clearly better b/c guys will still want to come play with him and most importantly, you avoid the problems a ton of teams have had when they only have young players w/o enough vets. Steve would basically be a mentor to those young guys and make sure you avoid the issues teams like the Kings and Wizards have had.

You get something useful by having Steve back, CLEARLY, but there’s also a cost. Is that cost so high that it gets in the way? We’ll see, but I don’t think it would be.

sunskerr wrote:You know, the magazine behind the one with Nash makes it look a little...out there.

Kerrsed wrote: