Steve Nash is getting ready to kickoff his latest Steve Nash Foundation Showdown in New York on June 20th – the annual fundraiser where he brings together actual professional soccer players and other professional athletes and friends who try their best to play the game (even if they have touched a soccer ball in decades.)
“One of those lucky things about the event that makes it a little bit unique and special is having these athletes and having the fish out of water component and blending the two sports,” Nash said earlier this month. “I definitely think it’s one of the more entertaining aspects for the fans.”
The event benefits the Foundation, which works with under-served kids through a variety of programs.
(This interview has been condensed.)
How’s your game these days?
I mean I would say my game’s starting getting a little better but my body’s starting to get a little slower so overall it’s probably in neutral. I still play a lot more soccer now that I retired but I can’t quite get around the field like I may have at one time years ago.
I feel like soccer’s a game where even if you’re slowing down, you can rely more on field vision and making good passes. Have you found that?
I always grew up playing soccer and in many ways I have a decent touch and feel for the ball. Just getting those reps and playing regularly makes such a difference for your decision making and stuff like that.
So just playing — I play with a local group of guys twice a week in LA and it’s very very fun and informal so just to get those situational touches makes you feel more comfortable out there.
You know some days I feel great and some days I’m like ‘oh man that’s not exactly how I envisioned that going.’ So the fighting against time is in full fling.
How do you get people signed up to play in the game? Do you have a list of friends waiting for their shot at this point?
A bit of both – we typically haven’t had a travel budget in the history of the event so in many ways I’ll have a few friends that I played with or I played against that I’ve asked to come and then I have friends … frankly we have a lot of our soccer players because our event, being around the third week of June, is when a lot of European soccer players are visiting New York for vacation.
So I know enough promoters and doormen in DC that they give me a heads up that a guy’s in town and we go and track them down in time for the event. It’s a very smart and lean and mean business model.
I know he’s a bit busy right now, but how would Steve Kerr be in the game?
I’m not sure that he has soccer skills, but he’s a great athlete. He was a great baseball player in high school, has excellent tennis skills, good golfer, all the different sports. I think people would be surprised about what a great athlete he is.
I’m sure he’d be one of the smarter guys on the field – we’ve love to have him out there, he’s struggled a lot with his back but he’s such an inspiration to me and so many people for his intelligence, his competitiveness and his ability to lead – it would be great to have him out there one of these years.
Which one of the Warriors players would be the best at soccer?
That’s a great question. I mean I find it hard to believe that Steph (Curry) couldn’t pick up soccer quickly.
I mean he’d at least have the best field vision and ability to find someone for a pass that no one else sees.
Yeah, spatial awareness, reading and reacting. Actually having said that, Klay (Thompson) played in the Showdown and was surprisingly really good, so I’m going to have to go back on that, remembering how surprised I was that Klay was really competent for someone who probably hadn’t played since he was a little kid.