The NBA is a copycat league.
After the 2008 Boston Celtics took the league by storm with Tom Thibodeau’s defensive principles, more and more teams began preaching the importance of overloading the strong side and keeping the ball from the middle of the floor. And now that the Golden State Warriors were crowned champions as a large result of their super-small lineup, expect many coaches to tinker with natural forwards as nominal centers.
But copying another team’s concept only works so well; the surest means of success is true innovation. And that’s especially the case, obviously, when it comes to personnel hires.
According to Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports, both the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers tried to bring Steve Nash aboard in the same consulting role he accepted with Golden State.
Lakers & Suns also tried to hire ex-guard Steve Nash in a similar position before he joined Warriors as a consultant with friend Steve Kerr.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) September 26, 2015
What franchise wouldn’t want to Nash as an advisor? He’s arguably the greatest shooter of all-time, and leveraged that unique ability even further with nuance and understanding as a playmaker the likes of which we’ve rarely seen. Any team could use a helping hand like his, Phoenix and Los Angeles included – the latter of which, it bears mentioning, clearly doesn’t hold any ill-will toward the future Hall-of-Famer.
And for all we know, Nash very well might have taken one of his former teams up on their offers. Here’s the problem, though: The Suns and Lakers apparently approached the two-time MVP after he’d already agreed with the Warriors.
@SpearsNBAYahoo after I'd already agreed with the Warriors
— Steve Nash (@SteveNash) September 26, 2015
Can anyone say tampering?
In all seriousness, it’s likely that Phoenix and Los Angeles reached out to Nash before he’d officially signed on with Golden State, nullifying any potential action from the league. Either way, it’s fair to wonder why his former clubs didn’t approach the Canadian legend sooner. Were they really completely unaware that he might be interested in such a role? This is especially damning for Mitch Kupchak and company; reports of Nash working out with young Lakers – most notably Jordan Clarkson – were frequent throughout 2014-15.
But only to the victor go the spoils, which in this case means Golden State’s ultra-talented roster getting an extra dose of shooting and passing guidance from one of the greatest offensive players ever. Needless to say, the Suns and Lakers missed a golden opportunity here – and it will hurt the rest of the league as the reigning champs reap benefits of that oversight.
