Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports
Steve Nash has appeared in just 10 games this season for the Los Angeles Lakers. The two-time MVP and future Hall of Famer has battled leg and back injuries all season, leading to widespread discussion among fans and media that he should hang it up.
Nash doesn’t see it that way. In a new Grantland video documenting his recovery, he lays it out in simple terms:
“The reality is, I’m not going to retire because I want the money.”
Nash is absolutely right. The 40-year-old has one more year remaining on his contract, which will pay him $9.7 million. That’s a lot of money to walk away from when it’s legally owed to him through a guaranteed contract.
Nash is one of the greatest players of his generation, the floor general of the wildly exciting mid-2000s “Seven Seconds or Less” Phoenix Suns teams. He’s a shell of himself now, but that doesn’t mean he should just give up because some fans say he should.
In the video, several talk-radio segments espouse the viewpoint that he is hurting the Lakers’ name and legacy by not hanging it up when he can’t play anymore. Nash himself says he understands that point of view, but the Lakers knew his best years were behind him when they signed him to the contract.
When the Lakers signed Nash in the summer of 2012, they were attempting to build a superteam, adding Nash and Dwight Howard to a core that included Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. Immediately, they had title expectations placed on them, despite the age of Nash, Bryant and Gasol and Howard’s recent back surgery. The season played out as an absolute worst-case scenario, beset by injuries and drama, and Howard bailed for Houston after one season in Hollywood.
The Lakers had to know that was at least a possibility. And just because it’s played out that way, Nash shouldn’t be guilted into retiring as a gesture of kindness. They promised him $9.7 million, and he has every right to make them pay him.