Father Time Strikes Again; Lakers' Nash to miss season
Nash will miss the entire season because of a back injury, the Lakers announced Thursday, putting the two-time NBA MVP point guard's career in doubt.
The Lakers and the 40-year-old Nash announced their joint decision less than a week before the start of the regular season. He played in only 15 games last season with nerve root irritation, but hoped for a comeback season after several months of rehabilitation.
At the start of the 2012 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers had maybe the most terrifying roster in basketball. Their starting five consisted of Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard, Steve Nash, and Metta World Peace. A team built of championship level experience, excellence at their positions, and the Artist formerly known as Artest - a smasher of dreams in high pressure situations.
Since that time, Kobe has been sidelined with several injuries (torn achilles and a fractured lateral tibial plateau), The Dwightmare swept LA and made it easy for the Clippers to become LA’s top team, Pau Gasol has moved to Chicago, and Metta World Peace is now Panda Friend. It’s been a really strange two years.
The last piece of that “17th Title Team” for the Lakers is Steve Nash, whom announced he’d be missing the entire 2014-15 season on Thursday. Nash played in three preseason games this season before being sidelined with back pain.
"Being on the court this season has been my top priority, and it is disappointing to not be able to do that right now," Nash said. "I work very hard to stay healthy, and unfortunately my recent setback makes performing at full capacity difficult. I will continue to support my team during this period of rest, and will focus on my long-term health."
Having only played 65 games in the last two seasons with LA and now missing the entire 2014-15 season, one has to assume this is it for the greatest NBA player to come out of Canada. His place in history is already locked up. Nash trails only John Stockton and Jason Kidd for career assists, and is the most accurate free throw shooter in history, narrowly edging Mark Price’s 90.4% accuracy. Not to mention, he’s a former two-time NBA MVP.
It’s the truest and most unfortunate statement about sports, but Father Time is undefeated. It’s a shame, too. At 40 years old and 19 years in the NBA, Steve Nash was gearing up for one more round. It would have been a hell of a fight, too.
Follow Padraic O’Connor on Twitter @padraic_oconnor
Photo: AP
Source: Associated Press