Steve Nash has been ruled out for the season by the Lakers, thanks to a nerve issue that has remained constant, and only allows him to play basketball on a very inconsistent basis.
Coming to grips with that type of forced retirement can’t be easy for any player to deal with, but Nash had one of the strongest competitive fires in existence, and has been spending time away from the team dealing with the emotional side of it -- even though he remains under contract for this season, and GM Mitch Kupchak has mentioned that he’d like to have Nash around the team to serve as a mentor for its younger players.
While he’s been away, Nash has been engaging in some mildly physical activities, and posting pictures to his Instagram account. He was hiking in Sedona on Halloween, which got him some unfriendly comments. But what seemed to push the more fanatical side of the Lakers fan base over the edge was a brief video of him hitting golf balls, which was deleted from his account shortly after this post was published.
The comments were unkind at best, and the worst ones aren’t suitable to be reprinted here, or really, anywhere else.
Lakers fans evidently want Nash to spend the rest of his life covered in bubble wrap laying on the couch if he can’t suit up for the team this year, despite the fact that him playing wouldn’t matter in the slightest in terms of the team’s chances to compete for a playoff spot this season.
Byron Scott attempted to call off the dogs a bit, when speaking on the matter following Thursday’s practice.
From Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times:
I would disagree that Nash doing anything physical is not a good look. People golf into their 70s, and hiking is simply walking in a scenic outdoor setting. Neither of these activities comes close to comparing to the strain athletes go through when playing basketball at the professional level, so it’s easy to agree with Scott here that a little relaxation is in order from the Lakers’ more rabid segment of fans.
