Having won back-to-back MVP titles during his prime, Phoenix Suns legend Steve Nash is widely considered by many as one of the greatest point guards in the history of the sport. As it turns out, however, we all actually almost missed out on the opportunity to see the Canadian national at the highest stage.
In a recent appearance on Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson's “All the Smoke” podcast, Nash told the story of how he almost completely turned his back on basketball during his college days. Nash spent four seasons at Santa Clara under head coach Dick Davey, who according to Nash, was extremely tough on him early on.
“[Davey] was hard on me, especially when I first got there, and it was the greatest thing that ever happened to me,” Nash said, via Adam Stratton of Fansided. “He had me thinking about quitting. And after going through that experience, it made everything after that…easy to overcome adversity. And so I thank him. He gave me a mental toughness.”
As they always say, adversity often bring out the best in people, and this was exactly the case for Nash. He soon blossomed into a tremendous player under Davey's tutelage. In his final two years in Santa Clara, Nash put up 18.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 1.6 steals, while also knocking down 2.6 triples per contest on a 39.9-percent clip, en route to back-to-back West Coast Conference Player of the Year awards.
We all know how Nash's NBA career played out, and as he stated above, a lot of credit has to go to his former college coach for giving him the push he needed early in his career.
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