Nash and Bryant give Lakers a real Hollywood backcourt

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the canadianpress archives Steve Nash still has the moves at 38. (CP)

LOS ANGELES -- Steve Nash could have earned more money while enjoying the twilight of his remarkable NBA career in Manhattan, his off-season home. Or he could have returned to Canada, finishing up his playing days in Toronto with an eye toward national history and another career in the front office.

Instead, the two-time MVP point guard is going Hollywood.

Nash, from Victoria, is teaming up with Kobe Bryant and whatever seven-foot stars end up with the Los Angeles Lakers for at least a few more seasons of title contention on the best team within a short flight of Phoenix, where his three children live.

So what if the Lakers have been among his biggest rivals throughout his entire NBA career with Dallas and Phoenix? So what if he'll be in a backcourt with a ball-dominating superstar who has never shared possession with a point guard of Nash's abilities? So what if he can't wear No. 13, which is hanging in the Staples Center rafters with Wilt Chamberlain's name forever attached to it?

Children and championships trumped everything else in Nash's mind when he agreed to a sign-and-trade deal that will put him in purple and gold next week.

"The idea to be close to my son, my daughters, who will be in Phoenix, was the No. 1 priority," Nash told ESPN's Los Angeles station Thursday.

"Don't get me wrong, it's fantastic," he added. "I think I'm a good fit for the team, and we have a great team, we're a contender, that's all incredible, too. But as far as getting over the hump and being able to be a Laker after being a Sun and trying to beat the Lakers in the playoffs all those years, the reality is it was too great of an opportunity to pass up as far as my children were concerned. And fortunately for me, it's a great basketball situation."

The 38-year-old says he spoke to Bryant by phone Monday to see whether he wanted to work together. Bryant took a break from his basketball camp in Santa Barbara to confirm he thinks Nash would be a perfect fit in the backcourt, providing a dimension they never possessed even in Derek Fisher's best years -- a playmaking talent Los Angeles hasn't seen since Magic Johnson was running the show.

Nash said Bryant thinks he can be "somebody to handle the ball and lead. He also felt that we were complementary leaders. I'm more on the positive side, he's more ... I think as he said it, cracks the whip. I think pick-and-roll, adding that to the offence and being able to space the floor for the big guys inside, I think it's a good fit. He was excited, and I think that was important for me. It's going to be fun to work it all out and try to create some cohesion and chemistry on the floor and make all these pieces work."

Phoenix knocked Los Angeles out of the first round of the post-season in 2006 and again in 2007, two series that are still Bryant's only first-round playoff defeats. Kobe's Lakers got revenge two years ago, finishing off the Suns on the way to their latest title.

-- The Associated Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 6, 2012 C5