Los Angeles Lakers News: Steve Nash Addresses Critics After Post-Injury Golfing Trip


The Los Angeles Lakers have already lost Steve Nash for the year with a nagging back injury, and now the team is also dealing with a controversy after the former NBA MVP was spotted on a golf trip.

Nash announced before the start of this season that he would be sitting out the 2014-15 campaign, after he failed to overcome a back injury. For Nash, who had contemplated retirement before deciding to come back for one last season, it appeared to be the end of his career.

The Los Angeles Lakers publicly supported Nash, with general manager Mitch Kupchak praising Nash for all the work he did in trying to make it back to the court.

“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,” Kupchak said. “Steve has been a consummate professional, and we greatly appreciate his efforts.”

But now that support could be wearing thin. This week, Steve Nash posted a video of himself golfing, which attracted criticism from those who believe Nash is not too serious about rehabbing his back.

Nash took on those critics this week, writing, “I definitely don’t want to be a distraction, but I felt it best everyone heard from me in my own words.”

Nash later added, “This may be hard for people to understand unless you’ve played NBA basketball, but there is an incredible difference between this game and swinging a golf club, hiking, even hitting a tennis ball or playing basketball at the park.”

He continued, “Fortunately those other activities aren’t debilitating, but playing an NBA game usually puts me out a couple of weeks. Once you’re asked to accelerate and decelerate with [Stephen] Curry and Kyrie Irving it is a completely different demand.”

The Los Angeles Lakers could have bigger problems than Steve Nash hitting the golf course. In what could be Kobe Bryant’s last season, the team has stumbled to a winless start and appears well outside the playoff bubble.

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