betED.com - The View from the Couch - by Gavin McDougald!
May 10th, 2006 - The non-ordinary superstar
The long lists of NBA Most Valuable Players includes a series of instantly identifiable one word names like Shaq, Michael, Magic, Kareem and Wilt.
Can we add the name ?Steve? to that list now that Steve Nash has won back-to-back titles?
Not likely.
For reasons almost too numerous to list, the diminutive (for the NBA anyway) guard simply doesn?t fit into that group. Even he admits it. ?Part of me just tries to find the comedy in it,? Nash said.
Yet, there he is, on top of that list two years in a row and counting. Actually, Nash is on many lists these days. Last week TIME magazine named him one of the 100 "people who shape our world." That?s something he knows about - a self-described citizen of the world, his parents are from England and Wales, he was born in South Africa, grew up in Canada and now he lives in America with his wife who is from Paraguay.
Based on Charles Barkley?s, let?s say, predilections, it seemed likely that he would not be in Nash?s corner, but basketball?s mouth is a fan. He even wrote the tribute to him in TIME:
"What has he taught us? It pays to be selfless? To top it off, Nash is just a nice guy.?
Yet, unlike almost all his contemporaries in sports, Nash is not afraid to be political.
He wore a custom-made t-shirt that stated "No war -- Shoot for peace" to the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. Way back then, when it wasn?t fashionable, he said, "I believe that us going to war would be a mistake... I think it has much more to do with oil or some sort of distraction, because I don't feel as though we should be worrying about Iraq."
Nash has packaged his unparalleled court sense, with an excellent geo-political sense and a sense of responsibility. He?s now taking his newfound fame and making it pay ? for others.
After winning the MVP last year, numerous companies approached him for off-season endorsements. Instead, he spent the summer on a humanitarian trip to Central America and helped pay for a new pediatric cardiology ward in a Paraguayan hospital. He did sign with the Canadian firm, MDG Computers, but only after they agreed to work with the Steve Nash Foundation endowing Canadian schools with fully equipped computer labs.
When the Grizzlies up and left Vancouver, their youth basketball program was set to die. Now it?s called the Steve Nash Basketball Association due to his support. This summer he?s going to South Africa, the country of his birth, as part of Basketball Without Borders' annual outreach camps around the world promoting basketball, education and HIV/AIDS awareness.
Foreign, short, low scoring and white generally don?t add up to much in the NBA, but Nash is a special case on the court. The first Canadian and the second foreign-born player (after Hakeem Olajuwon) to earn the MVP, along with Allen Iverson, he is one of only two players under 6'6" to take home the trophy in the last four decades. He is the first MVP who did not lead his team in scoring since Dave Cowens in 1972-73. He is also the first white player to win the award since Larry Bird in 1985-86.
Will history list him as one of the games? great - like say, a Larry Legend? Despite all he?s done, not yet. He needs at least one championship under his belt for that, or perhaps another MVP trophy. (He just laughed when asked if he thought that he should be considered a front-runner for next year.)
He plays the game like few others have, but when it?s all said and done; it?s most likely off the court where his greatest impact will be felt.
Which is something I suspect Steve Nash would take first.
Cheers - Gavin McDougald - AKA Couch
Remember to drop us a line at rants@betED.com to voice your opinion on one of McDougald's articles or on anything else you read at betED.com!
May 10th, 2006 - The non-ordinary superstar
The long lists of NBA Most Valuable Players includes a series of instantly identifiable one word names like Shaq, Michael, Magic, Kareem and Wilt.
Can we add the name ?Steve? to that list now that Steve Nash has won back-to-back titles?
Not likely.
For reasons almost too numerous to list, the diminutive (for the NBA anyway) guard simply doesn?t fit into that group. Even he admits it. ?Part of me just tries to find the comedy in it,? Nash said.
Yet, there he is, on top of that list two years in a row and counting. Actually, Nash is on many lists these days. Last week TIME magazine named him one of the 100 "people who shape our world." That?s something he knows about - a self-described citizen of the world, his parents are from England and Wales, he was born in South Africa, grew up in Canada and now he lives in America with his wife who is from Paraguay.
Based on Charles Barkley?s, let?s say, predilections, it seemed likely that he would not be in Nash?s corner, but basketball?s mouth is a fan. He even wrote the tribute to him in TIME:
"What has he taught us? It pays to be selfless? To top it off, Nash is just a nice guy.?
Yet, unlike almost all his contemporaries in sports, Nash is not afraid to be political.
He wore a custom-made t-shirt that stated "No war -- Shoot for peace" to the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. Way back then, when it wasn?t fashionable, he said, "I believe that us going to war would be a mistake... I think it has much more to do with oil or some sort of distraction, because I don't feel as though we should be worrying about Iraq."
Nash has packaged his unparalleled court sense, with an excellent geo-political sense and a sense of responsibility. He?s now taking his newfound fame and making it pay ? for others.
After winning the MVP last year, numerous companies approached him for off-season endorsements. Instead, he spent the summer on a humanitarian trip to Central America and helped pay for a new pediatric cardiology ward in a Paraguayan hospital. He did sign with the Canadian firm, MDG Computers, but only after they agreed to work with the Steve Nash Foundation endowing Canadian schools with fully equipped computer labs.
When the Grizzlies up and left Vancouver, their youth basketball program was set to die. Now it?s called the Steve Nash Basketball Association due to his support. This summer he?s going to South Africa, the country of his birth, as part of Basketball Without Borders' annual outreach camps around the world promoting basketball, education and HIV/AIDS awareness.
Foreign, short, low scoring and white generally don?t add up to much in the NBA, but Nash is a special case on the court. The first Canadian and the second foreign-born player (after Hakeem Olajuwon) to earn the MVP, along with Allen Iverson, he is one of only two players under 6'6" to take home the trophy in the last four decades. He is the first MVP who did not lead his team in scoring since Dave Cowens in 1972-73. He is also the first white player to win the award since Larry Bird in 1985-86.
Will history list him as one of the games? great - like say, a Larry Legend? Despite all he?s done, not yet. He needs at least one championship under his belt for that, or perhaps another MVP trophy. (He just laughed when asked if he thought that he should be considered a front-runner for next year.)
He plays the game like few others have, but when it?s all said and done; it?s most likely off the court where his greatest impact will be felt.
Which is something I suspect Steve Nash would take first.
Cheers - Gavin McDougald - AKA Couch
Remember to drop us a line at rants@betED.com to voice your opinion on one of McDougald's articles or on anything else you read at betED.com!
