Steve Nash's Fourth Quarter

Last Friday, I had the tremendous pleasure of seeing my all-time favorite basketball player, Steve Nash, from the fourth row of the Celtics-Suns game at the Garden. The Suns' roster is so depleted this year, with Ronnie Price and Markieff Morris in the starting lineup, that it's disappointing to know Nash his nearing his career's end on such a thin team, though they rather soundly defeated Boston that night. Even their center, Marcin Gortat, who dominated inside, had crucial misses on two Nashian moments: When Nash lobbed a no-look alley-oop off a pick and roll, Gortat didn't cut inside; and when Nash cut down the lane, reversed back up, executed a quick give-and-go with Gortat and then fed him a small bounce pass for an open jump shot, Gortat missed it. Amare Stoudemire would've made both.

The contrast between the Suns' play when Nash is and isn't on the court is starker than for perhaps any other player I've watched. With him there, there's a constant pulse in plays, a skipping energy that's excited to start each possession. He'd high-five his teammates constantly, sticking out his arms even if they weren't close. In contrast, his backup, Sebastian Telfair jogs the ball up the court at a pace that made me want to give him a little kick so perhaps he'd quicken his step. Nash has this innate sense for the game, always searching for the next move before anyone else does; he looks so controlled and thoughtful, but also playful and inventive; he's mastered his profession in a commanding yet welcoming way that's inspiring even in much more mundane, office-bound settings. I think he offers much to learn about leading and executing that translates well beyond a basketball court.

There's quite a debate across the Internet now about whether Nash should be traded this season. He's loyal to the Suns, but the franchise has made lots of poor personnel decisions for the past three, if not 10 years, and the sentimentalist in me says he deserves to spend his career's fourth quarter on a much better team.