After accepting his new role as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, JJ Redick had to relinquish his position as co-host of Mind the Game podcast. That job now belongs to Steve Nash, who went viral in the latest episode for telling LeBron James he wished he was black.
“Starting playing basketball, fell in love with it,” said Nash. “Like, the first Air Jordan 1s, the Spike Lee commercials, right when I was in the eighth grade. I was like ‘This world is amazing’ and let’s just be real, I wanted to be black. All the best players in the world were black, the best rappers… so I’m trying to emulate anyone who had something about ’em.”
According to Nash, basketball was a first love of his and he took a liking to it early on. He idolized legends like Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, and Michael Jordan but he had to work twice as hard to get anywhere near their level. In the same way, LeBron says Austin Reaves has learned some things beyond his station.
“It’s funny that you say that because we say the same sh*t about [Austin Reaves]. With AR it’s like, there’s no way you learned that in f*cking Arkansas. Markeiff Morris said ‘Nah I ain’t believing you from Arkansas, You gotta be from New Jersey.’ You didn’t learn that sh*t in Arkansas!”
Stereotypes don’t hold for everyone but it’s no secret that white athletes are frequently underrated in the sport compared to their white counterparts. Most of the NBA’s All-Time top players are black (Jordan, Kobe, Magic, Wilt) and they also tend to be more athletic than white players, who have traditionally excelled as shooters or playmakers.
For Nash, watching Michael Jordan dominate the game made him want to play, look, and sound like Mike — just as so many others around the world wanted to do the same. As a 2x MVP and first-ballot Hall of Famer, Nash was able to find his success and Reaves is following a similar path after another impressive season for the Lakers.
LeBron James Gives Credit To The 2000s Suns Squad
Steve Nash is often considered to be one of the greatest modern day point guards but his achievements are often overlooked by the fans. While he never won a championship in Phoenix, Nash led them through an era of prosperity for years and LeBron says they deserve a little more credit for their influence on the game.
“I don’t think that you and I don’t think that Mike [D’Antoni] gets enough credit for revolutionizing the game to where it is today,” said James. “They always talk about players and how transcendent a player can be — Magic, Bird, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe, Michael, Stephen Curry, yourself [Nash]. I don’t think that you and your style of play, how you and D’Antoni mirrored so easily to transcend the game. That is the game today. You guys were before it’s time, the true essence of before it’s time.”
Steve Nash never won a championship with the Suns but he left his mark on the league in more ways than one. On the court, his speed and decisiveness helped create a new kind of offense, which head coach Mike D’Antoni maximized with a very particular play style.
The “07 seconds or less” Suns became notorious for their scoring pace with highly efficient fast break offense, small size, and a high frequency of three-pointers. In a lot of ways, they were an early version of Stephen Curry’s Warriors during an era where it was much harder to pull off. Over time, due to changes in the rules and strategy, the game opened up to allow for a much higher scoring output.
Nash doesn’t properly get recognized for how much he changed the game but maybe that will change now that LeBron James is bringing it to light. Clearly, they are students of the game and they have both been dedicated to the craft for decades now.
