Video: Steve Nash high school highlightsSee the two-time NBA MVP in his high school days in Canada.Every scrawny, under-appreciated, below-the-rim high school player has an idol ... a role model ... a vision.
He is Steve Nash.
Born in South Africa — now there's a start most NBA hopefuls don't consider — his family settled in Victoria, British Columbia, another professional basketball not-so-hotbed.
He played soccer and hockey as a youth but told his mom he would someday play in the NBA. Imagine the laughter. But after he averaged 21.3 points, 11.2 assists and 9.1 rebounds for St. Michael's University School, a free college education seemed like a nice possibility.
Of course, no one bit on at a wiry 6-foot Canadian kid until Santa Clara coach Dick Davey requested a highlight tape. I mean, what the heck, eh?
Despite Davey telling Nash he was
"the worst defensive player" he'd ever seen, he took a chance on the lad.
And we all know what happened from there. Two-time West Coast Conference Player of the Year. Eight-time NBA All-Star. Two-time NBA MVP.
C'mon. Sounds like a fairy tale.
The final words were written today when Nash officially retired.
Lucky for all those scrawny high school kids searching for a dream, his career is always available in books, the internet and television sets everywhere.
