Lakers Winners In Steve Nash Sweepstakes

By Jonathan Mathis

Kobe Bryant, in a phone conversation, a recruiting ploy to bait Steve Nash into migrating from the desert to the glamorous sights of Hollywood, had an amiable discussion with the two-time MVP about coming together in attempt to win a championship. It happened so quickly, and before we knew it, the Phoenix Suns and Nash had agreed to a sign-and-trade that will send multiple draft picks back to Phoenix in exchange for the point guard.

It took LA by surprise to hear the latest news of Nash, 38, receiving a three-year deal for an estimate of $27 million from the Los Angeles Lakers, joining a high-market franchise with mystique and traditional merit, and with a loaded roster of talented teammates. On Independence Day, around the evening when most people were standing in the park waiting to watch the fireworks launch into the sky, the Lakers pulled off a stunning trade, a remarkable steal and one of the smartest moves.

Congratulations to Jim Buss. The Buss family passed the test of handling business, without flunking, as shrewd owners on track to solidify an older, weaker and a more exhausted team, negotiating and working the phones aggressively during this year’s free agency bonanza. Nicely done, Mr. Buss. Forgive me for criticizing every time you failed to make any moves during a rebuilding process. He graduated from the school of Basketball Geniuses and deserves a lot of credit for amazingly pulling it off. So maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to divorce Lamar Odom, in which the Lakers sent Phoenix the trade exception they received after parting ways with the sixth man. If there were an Owner of the Year award, Buss would be among the top candidates and could easily win it for pursuing and obtaining a charismatic point guard. Once and for all, the Lakers are freed of burdens, alleviated of doom and further embarrassment and at ease with the notion of shunning uncomplimentary criticism surrounding the team’s woes and suffering from early postseason exits.

It’s almost surreal that he’s going to wear a Lakers uniform, after donning a Suns jersey for eight years. In fact, Nash and Bryant were arch enemies while the point guard played in Phoenix, and it was even reported that Kobe held a grudge against Nash. It’s hard to imagine Bryant teaming up with him. But, in reality, it’s happening. Nash has arrived to L.A. and will join forces with the Black Mamba to considerably form the most formidable backcourt in the league. Now he can pack his bags, stroll to the nearest airport in Phoenix, catch the next flight out of town to LAX and call for a taxi to tour the City of Angels, as his new home is located on Figueroa Street. If L.A. Live weren’t ever so lively, the place will be full of life with Nash already in love with Los Angeles as much as Randy Newman.

Welcome the newest Laker, ladies and gentleman, a resident of a new address. Make him feel welcome.

Bryant hated the Suns, just as much as Nash hated the Lakers. It was mutual animosity involving two superstars who were competitors and rivals in different cities, but now they come together in the same venue, on the same court and in the same city, with their eyes on the oversized championship trophy by the time the 2012-2013 season opens. This was a team in desperate need of addressing the point guard deficiencies, bringing in a sufficient leader in the backcourt to fit perfectly alongside one of the best scorers in basketball. They got it. This was a team that seriously needed to revamp if they have an objective of returning to championship form. They got it. It was on Kobe’s agenda. He’s all about winning, and whatever it takes, he’s willing to lobby and invite any player into the Lakers family.

Whatever beef he and Nash had, it’s all in the past. Whatever they secretly feuded about, he and Nash have finally reconciled and may build a strong bond together in LA. And more important, despite a long and bitter dispute, they both are partners in the backcourt as the feud ends. This ought be interesting and fun considering that the Lakers were painful to watch and lifeless in Hollywood last season, as the lights stayed dim inside Staples Center with very little action from the players and even the spectators dressed in flashy, unrelated attire, bearing the end of an era that faded in another early playoff exit when the Oklahoma City Thunder humiliated them in five games.

For a short term, Nash can excel at a premium but not like he played in his heydays with Dallas and Phoenix, two cities where he could have respectfully been in discussion as one of the best point guards in the league. Back then, he was productive leading the fast break and creating plays for his teammates. And today, Nash can still provide a half court attack and has the know-how with his combinations of pick and rolls and cuts that gives him enough space to attack the rim. With Nash around, it makes the Lakers much better, faster and well balanced to push the tempo. Even though he just arrived, the Lakers are much better, one of the teams out to send a statement. So now, should the Lakers return to prominence and not a franchise in disarray, Nash is an antidote to Los Angeles’ soft spots.

But in the next two seasons, without or with Nash, the Lakers won’t nearly be as stout as they are considered at the moment, as Kobe continues aging and Nash approaches age 40 in a couple of years. The man who’s been known to involve his teammates and make everyone around him better, no matter what team he plays for or what players he works alongside, will come in and have an impact on the Lakers offense instantly. With some of that pressure off Kobe — not having to play long, grueling minutes and take over in crunch time — he can share the ball and have confidence in Nash. Fans have been salivating at the idea of acquiring or signing someone as good as Nash.

And above all else, he can coexist with Kobe by running the half court and handing it off to him for uncontested jump shot or even set up plays underneath the basket for Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol if they are still around and not shipped out of town in the upcoming weeks. As expected, we’ve heard endless talk about him going back to his Canadian homeland after the Toronto Raptors offered him a three-year deal worth $36 million. The Knicks pursued Nash, even at old age, and had he landed in New York, he would have given the team a real chance to turn into winners and try to cultivate a team with Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire. But, as it turned out, L.A. was his next destination and he might have a shot, at last, to win it all.

He’s not the best defensively, but he can knock down shots and run an offense brilliantly, or even greater, change Bynum’s level of play and turn him into the game’s most dominant big man. By Nash coming to play for the Lakers, he can recruit and convince Dwight Howard to come and form a trilogy. If they are interested in his services, although the Brooklyn Nets are frontrunners and are still aggressively working on a deal to acquire the seven-footer from Orlando, the Lakers can make a trade for him as well. Before Nash left, he informed the Suns that he wanted to stay close to his three children. But deep down, after spending 16 years in a league where he has not experienced championship triumph, he wants to badly win.

At age 38, he’s not going to dominate like he used to, but he still has enough left in the tank before he decides to retire from this game. He has enough individual accolades, but has never won a ring in his long career and now has a chance to prevail and hoist his first ever trophy to go with his Most Valuable Player award in 2006, the same year Bryant scored a career-high 35.4 points per game. By now, Bryant has forgiven Nash for dispatching his Lakers in the playoffs in two straight years, breaking the hearts of many each time the Suns and L.A. would meet on the hardwood. Since then, Kobe always has held a grudge but now he’s on his team, willing to try to help him win his sixth ring.

And now, he’s over it. He’s glad to have Nash as a teammate. He wants to win. If he can benefit with Nash in the lineup, well, then, nothing else matters. It’s about the sixth ring.

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