This
past weekend Steve Nash announced his retirement after 18.5 seasons in the NBA.
He spent 10 years in Phoenix, 6 in Dallas and 2.5 abysmal years in Los Angeles.
It was after another injury plagued season that he decided to hang up his shoes
having played in only 65 games over the last 3 seasons.
During
his career he played with some of the greats over the past two decades like
Kevin Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. He isn’t an
opposing player, standing 6’3” and weighing 180 lbs. but his speed was blinding
and he sure knew how to control a game earning 2 MVP Awards and being selected
for 8 All-Star Games. Unfortunately he never made it to the BIG GAME, falling
short in the Western Conference Finals twice.
His
last couple of season in Los Angeles he was just a fraction of his former self
and it was depressing to watch him try to push through his back problems on a
team that was also just a fraction of their former selves.
Nash
is loved here in Phoenix, even though he did move on to the Lakers he is still
beloved in the Valley. He is one of those guys that is so easy to like and so
easy to collect. Here are a couple of my favorite Nash cards that I have picked
up over the years.
His
1996-97 UD3 Rookie Card. Not even close to being one of his more expensive RCs
but I have loved this card since I pulled it from a pack, the wood texture and
image in the shape of the key is so cool of a design.
A
2007-08 Stadium Club Beam Team relic. I love the Stadium Club sets and was so
happy when Topps re-released the product in 2007. I pulled his Nash Beam Team
relic and an Allen Iverson relic out of the same box.
Nash was always a personal favorite. When I was in college, I was in our pep band at Vanderbilt. In 1993, we and Santa Clara University were in the same subregional in Salt Lake City, but we wouldn't face each other in any unlikely event until the Sweet 16. So, Santa Clara hired our band to be their pep band.
ReplyDeleteLong story short, that was Nash's freshman year, and they were a 15-seed. They played against -- and defeated -- the No. 2-seed, the Arizona Wildcats (led by Damon Stoudamire) in the first round. I still have the t-shirt we got from SCU for the games. What a fun time that was!