Hall of Fame Waits for Canadian Icon Steve Nash

Like so many athletes, Steve Nash’s true value to the sporting community in Canada won’t be realized until long after he retires.

Thursday he took another step closer to calling it quits when he announced he would miss the entire 2014-15 season with a nagging back injury that he aggravated last week while lifting luggage. This is the final year of his three-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, making a comeback to the NBA highly in doubt for the 40-year-old. However, he isn’t considering retirement – at least he hasn’t admitted that yet.

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“As disappointed as we are for ourselves and our fans, we’re even more disappointed for Steve,” Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak told reporters. “We know how hard he’s worked the last two years to try to get his body right for the rigors of the NBA, and how badly he wants to play, but unfortunately he simply hasn’t been able to get there up to this point in time. Steve has been a consummate professional, and we greatly appreciate his efforts.”

While Nash’s NBA career appears murky at best, if this is the end for him, his legacy speaks for itself. He has won two NBA MVP awards and ranks third all-time in assists. He also owns the NBA’s best free-throw shooting percentage at 90.4 and was an All-Star eight times.

More than that, for a long while, Steve Nash was Canadian basketball. No player north of the boarder has ever made the kind of impact he made on the game. Before Vince Carter and Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins, Steve Nash was all that Canada had. He represented his country at every turn when he little to no support on the court and is now the general manager of Canada Basketball’s senior men’s team.

In short, he’s a Canadian athlete who was never particularly athletic or physically imposing that just happened to become the best at what was traditionally a non-Canadian sport. Not only did Nash make it to the NBA, he became the best in the NBA. Now, a slew of young Canadians have followed in his footsteps.

Wiggins, Bennett and every other immerging Canadian basketball talent owe Nash big time. So too do the Toronto Raptors, because without Nash paving the road, it would have been a lot rockier with significantly more potholes.

“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 told reporters. “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.”

Spoken like a true Canadian.