http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/81432 ... s-happened
SUNDAY, JULY 1
Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo was the first caller to get through shortly after 12:01 a.m. Officials from the Knicks, Heat, Lakers, Mavericks and Nets dialed in soon thereafter. And with his client sitting so close after their late-night meal, Duffy offered each team that rang an opportunity to speak directly to Nash.
It didn't seem like much at the time, but that's when Nash and Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak had their first chat. Kupchak let Duffy know that he was well aware of Nash's comments to Stephen A. Smith on ESPN New York 98.7 just days before about how "hard" it would be "to put on a Lakers jersey" after all of the Suns' playoffs battles with Kobe Bryant & Co. When Kupchak explained that he "had to call anyway," Duffy thanked him and assured him that he was wise to check in, dismissing Nash's quotes as "media hype."
Yet that's as far as things went with the Lakers on Day 1. Face-to-face meetings were quickly arranged with the two most obvious serious suitors to get the Nash sweepstakes officially under way: Toronto and New York...
MONDAY, JULY 2
The first 24 hours of luxurious action delivered a lot to digest. Duffy urged Nash to "sleep on it" all when they finally parted, but Nash admits that by "Monday morning I was ready to decide between New York and Toronto."
"We're thinking," Duffy said, "that this is going to be a two-horse race."
The phone didn't stop ringing, though. Nets general manager Billy King followed up on his initial call by reiterating that Nash was Brooklyn's top choice in the event that Deron Williams elected to sign with Dallas. He pressed for his own face-to-face session with Nash. Miami's Pat Riley, despite the Heat's limited financial flexibility, rang again. And then Kupchak circled back to see how things were progressing....
it goes on day by day, just a great insight into how it all came together.
