Steve Nash revealed a funny experience that made him realize it was time to retire from professional basketball. The Suns legend, who spent his final two NBA seasons with the Lakers, felt the physical demands of 16 seasons catching up to him.
Nash recounted a 2013 preseason game between the Lakers and the Warriors, where he tested if he could still perform effectively. He described the game on the podcast Mind the Game:
"We went to play these guys preseason in like Ontario, California, or somewhere. I think they put up like 50 in the first quarter. Maybe it was 45, but it felt like a 50-piece, right? I couldn’t have probably stopped him even if I were 100 percent. And now I’m like dragging around Steve Kerr putting me in every action. I’m looking over at Steve like c’mon Stevie. Alvin Gentry over there laughing at me like, ‘No, let’s see what you got’. I’m like, man, literally like three, four more days of thinking on it, I was like ‘Yeah, I think it’s time [to retire]. I called Mitch Kupchak.”
Nash expressed that retirement was not an easy topic to discuss publicly. Reflecting on his career start, he said:
"When he came into the league, I still felt like the big brother a little bit, I still feel like I’ve got the upper hand here."
Ultimately, Nash acknowledged he deserved a graceful exit from the game after such a long and successful career.
Steve Nash humorously credits Steph Curry and a tough preseason game for helping him accept that it was time to retire after 16 intensive NBA seasons.