Canadian Steve Nash Says NBA Retirement is Near

Steve Nash has nothing left to prove in the National Basketball Association and admits that retirement is nearing.

Nash, a veteran of 19 years in the NBA, told reporters earlier this week that he’ll likely retire after playing one more season with the Los Angeles Lakers.

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“I think this is my last season,” Nash said. “I’m going to hopefully spend many, many years living this life without basketball so it would be nice to play one more year.”

So far, Nash’s time in Los Angeles has been a major disappointment for everyone involved. He signed a three-year deal with the Lakers before the 2012 season and oddsmakers immediately made L.A. the NBA championship favorite. That year L.A. was shooting for the stars featuring Nash, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard in the starting lineup, but the purple and gold never came close to meeting those expectations.

Nash suffered a non-displaced fracture in his left leg in his second game as a Laker, an injury that would keep him on the shelf for the most part of the next two years. Now, the Lakers are in a rebuilding phase and Nash will be counted on to serve as a mentor to some of the young players on the team instead of logging heavy minutes as a starting point guard.

“Sometimes you have to go down to come back up,” Nash said. “Right now the Lakers are down and it takes time.  I don’t know if we’re going to have a chance this year or not. But obviously in the future, they’ll be back where they have been many times.”

After Nash’s playing days are over, he’s expected to focus his efforts as general manager of Canada’s national senior men’s basketball team.

Right now, Sports Interaction has the Los Angeles Lakers listed at +3900 to win the 2015 NBA championship.