Last night, Steve Nash passed Mark Jackson for third all time in assists. But Nash also left the Lakers’ loss to the Rockets with a hamstring injury (perhaps lending credence to his theory).
After the game, Nash was blunt about what the injury means.
Nash, via Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com:Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni wasn’t quite as straight forward, but he sure raised the stakes. D’Antoni, via McMenamin:
“It’s too bad everything comes to an end, and he’s had a great career,” D’Antoni said after the game, adding several times he felt “lucky” to have coached the eight-time All-Star in both Phoenix and L.A.
D’Antoni would not definitively draw the curtain on Nash’s career, however.
“I don’t think anybody, they can’t tell that,” D’Antoni said. “He’ll try, I’m sure. A lot of it’s mentally, whether he can do it mentally, because it’s going to take a lot, a lot of work and some luck and then the franchise and the management and Steve will sit down and they’ll make that determination.”
Even though D’Antoni walks it back, “It’s too bad everything comes to an end, and he’s had a great career” is a strange quote.
Nash has made no secret about his desire to return next season. I can’t see this changing that.
He wants that $9.7 million salary, and whether or not he retires is his decision.
If Nash comes back, he’s under contract. The Lakers would have to pay him, whether or not he’s physically capable of playing.
If Nash retires, it’s his prerogative to let the Lakers off the hook and sacrifice his money. But why would he do that?
D’Antoni might be seeing just Nash’s age (40) hand how much pain the point guard is in. Based on those factors, Nash retiring is a logical conclusion.
The financial details of the situation, though, point in a much different direction.