Steve Nash likely won’t play again this season, according to Lakers head coach Mike D’Antoni. There’s of course the growing possibility that we may have seen the last of Nash on the court, as his 18-year NBA career grinds to a halt. Per ESPN:
“I doubt it,” D’Antoni said after the Lakers’ shootaround Monday when asked if Nash would play again this season with 23 games remaining, starting with the Trail Blazers on Monday night. “I don’t think so. What’s the end game? We’ve talked about it. He’s not completely healthy. We have 23 games left. We’re not going to make the playoffs. So what’s his objective into taking minutes away from the young guys that we’re trying to develop? That’s kind of the theme that we’re talking about.”
Nash was noncommittal about his chances of playing again this season.
“We’ll see,” he said. “I couldn’t really make a prediction. If I get the chance, it would be great.”
Nash has missed the Lakers’ last seven games after returning from nerve root irritation to play a four-game stint in early February. During his short-lived comeback, he collided with Chicago’s Kirk Hinrich, with the point of impact occurring in nearly the same spot on his left leg where he suffered a fracture last season.
“That knee to [his leg], that was crazy,” Nash said. “It just flared everything up. But it’s subsiding and I’m kind of working through it and coming back to where I was.”
The two-time league MVP has averaged 7.6 points and 4.7 assists in 10 games this season while shooting just 36 percent from the floor and 31.6 percent from 3 — well below his career marks of 14.3 points, 8.5 assists, 49 percent shooting and 42.8 percent from deep.
