Steve Nash says Shai Gilgeous-Alexander joining him as NBA MVP a 'very special moment'

Article content

Steve Nash has a unique perspective on what Shai Gilgeous-Alexander being named the NBA’s most valuable player really means.

For the man himself, for the youngsters dreaming of achieving similar levels of success and for the rest of this country.

Gilgeous-Alexander earned the honour Wednesday, 20 years after Nash improbably had become the first Canuck to win the award.

“This is a very special moment for me. I genuinely get super excited to see his success,” Nash said Thursday on a conference call organized by NBA Canada.

“Shai has had an incredible, historic year. Not only is he playing an incredibly high level statistically, he’s reaching some pretty rarefied air and is also the leader of a very, very healthy, successful team,” Nash said of the 68-win Oklahoma City Thunder.

“He’s just having an unbelievable impact on his team, the league, and you can back that up with the eye test, but also the numbers are almost unfathomable. So just a very, very special player, an incredible season.”

Nash had a number of incredible NBA seasons himself, resulting in not one but two MVP wins while he played for the Phoenix Suns, and Gilgeous-Alexander has said Nash’s journey helped inspire him along the way.

“He set the foundation. He was the first Canadian basketball player I knew of and, without seeing guys go to the NBA from Canada, it wouldn’t have been as much of a dream as it was for us as kids growing up,” Gilgeous-Alexander said in Oklahoma City on Wednesday.

“To be in the conversation with a guy like that and what he’s meant to not only basketball, but to the country of Canada, has been special.”

The respect is mutual.

“I genuinely get super excited to see his success and really probably my favourite player to watch,” Nash said Thursday. “And just hope he continues on this trajectory and continues to rack up seasons like this, and represent himself and his country and his team, and the way he’s been doing it’s phenomenal … What’s not to like?”

Good question. Gilgeous-Alexander, who was born in Toronto and raised in Hamilton, led the NBA in scoring while shooting over 50% from the field. He has kept it up in the playoffs and will be formally presented with the Michael Jordan Award before Game 2 on Thursday night between Oklahoma City and the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that has his cousin Nickeil Alexander-Walker in the rotation.

“He’s a leader on the national team. He’s pushing boundaries as to what’s possible, individually and as a nation,” Nash said of Gilgeous-Alexander. “He’s also inspiring a generation or many generations beneath him. It’s very, very powerful to have a player and a figure like that.”

Asked what advice he’d give to the 26-year-old, Nash said “it would just be ‘stick to it.’ He’s got an incredible process and desire and work ethic, incredible character. And that’s what’s gotten him here, and that’s what will allow him to continue on this path.

“You can only imagine and get excited about all the kids around the world but, in particular, Canadians that will be affected so positively, whether they’re basketball players or not, by the way he carries himself, by the way he kind of executes and commits to his profession,” he added.

“Just an amazing example for everybody out there, not just kids, but that’s where you get most excited about, is seeing the impact he has on the younger generations.”

On that note, a mural and commemorative banner went up Thursday at Gilgeous-Alexander’s former high school in Hamilton, Sir Allan MacNab Secondary, celebrating his MVP win. It will serve as a beacon for students in the area as to what’s possible.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

Just as Nash’s story once helped serve as a blueprint for Gilgeous-Alexander, setting his imagination in motion.

“I dreamt about it as a kid, but you know as a kid it’s a fake dream,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “But as the days go on and you realize that you get closer to your dream, it’s hard to not freak out. It’s hard to not be a six-year-old kid again and I think that’s what’s allowed me to achieve it.”

Thanks to Nash and now Gilgeous-Alexander, the impossible is no longer well, impossible.

“It’s been a pretty rapid ascent to think of when I came in the league (and you could count the other Canadians on one hand and have fingers to spare). That was kind of the Canadian landscape, pretty thin and barren, so to speak,” Nash said.

“But look with the Raptors and Grizzlies for a period of time, coming to Canada, the Internet, making the world smaller, and sharing information with AAU Basketball kind of crossing the border. Our kids believe they’re as good as anybody, and they’ve been doing this now for a couple of decades, really,” he said.

“To have our young players compete with the top players around the world and prove that they’re as good or better has been a long time coming.”

@WolstatSun