Los Angeles Lakers Starting Steve Nash Over Jeremy Lin Would Be a Mistake

Given that training camp has yet to begin for the Los Angeles Lakers, it may be a bit early to be predicting mistakes. But a decision to start the chronically injured Steve Nash over 26-year-old Jeremy Lin could be just that.

Mark Medina for the Los Angeles Daily News recently sat down with new Lakers coach Byron Scott at the team’s El Segundo practice facility and wrote, “Scott will spend training camp figuring out his starting lineup, which he says will currently feature Nash, Bryant, Carlos Boozer and Jordan Hill.”

Nash, who will turn 41 in February, played just 15 games last season due to chronic back issues compounded by nerve root irritation from a leg fracture that occurred October 31, 2012.

It has been two years of trials, tribulations and setbacks for the two-time MVP, and it’s difficult to see how he can sustain a starting role at this point in his career.

Meanwhile, the Lakers traded this summer for a much younger player who could prove to be part of a long-term plan.

Wally Santana/Associated Press

Los Angeles absorbed the remainder of Lin’s salary when it acquired him from the Houston Rockets. Shouldn’t L.A. want to make the most out of this one-season test drive?

Lin will earn $15 million, of which only $8 million will count against the team’s cap. Nash will earn $9.7 million. Each player is entering the third and final season of their respective contracts. 

In other words, each comes with a substantial price tag, but youth offers a more hopeful upside for a team in the formative stages of a rebuild.

All this isn’t to say that Scott’s mind is completely made up before camp even begins.

Lin’s time in the NBA has been relatively brief— just 215 games over the course of four seasons. And despite the halcyon days of his brief Linsanity moment in the sun with the New York Knicks, the guard’s game is still a work in progress. Per his Instagram account:

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This offseason I have been working really hard on my defense, footwork, and explosiveness. A huge component that I needed to work on is my core stability (having good posture, being able to stay low in my defensive stance, and being able to stay balanced while absorbing contact). Only 19 days left till training camp…can't wait to get back on the court!

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This sounds like someone who’s serious about improving. There will also be the matter of a new offense to learn. Scott will meld components of both the Princeton and the triangle systems, each of which is heavily reliant on moving without the ball.

Lin has the bulk of his career ahead of him, and it would behoove his chances for a lengthy run in Los Angeles to embrace that which is new and different to him. He’ll get help from Kobe Bryant, who already knows the tricks of the triangle offense, which shares numerous principles with the Princeton.

Writing for Basketball Insiders, Alex Kennedy notes that Lin is ready for a fresh start and also eager to learn from the best:

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As he continues to expand his game, he'll have two Hall of Fame guards alongside him in the backcourt, which should do wonders for his development. Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant have been injured in recent years, but Lin is hoping to pick their brains and learn as much as he can from his legendary teammates.

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And if the former wunderkind is concerned about who starts and who doesn’t, he certainly isn’t expressing it. When Kennedy asked if he believed he’d proven his worth as a starting point guard, Lin answered:

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I don’t care to figure out what the answer to that question is anymore. Before I [had] kind of like a chip on my shoulder, things to prove, people to prove wrong. Now, I’m just like when I get out there I’m going to play and everyone’s going to formulate their own opinion and it’s going to change every single day. I don’t think my own opinion of myself has ever changed. I still believe I am capable of that. But that’s just me, that’s if you ask me. I’m not really worried about what everyone else is thinking anymore.

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Lin is ready to become a more fundamentally sound player. That will appeal to his new coach. He’s also eager to learn from Nash, saying, per Lakers.com, “Now I have this opportunity. I can’t wait. I still remember him in Phoenix and he was 20 and 10 every night. I look forward to learning quite a few things from him.”

The future Hall of Famer can teach plenty about the most effective angles, about flawless footwork and the art of the perfect pass. And Lin, with his fresh legs and energy, would fit nicely in the starting lineup alongside veterans like Bryant and Boozer.

Nash, meanwhile, could provide a steadying influence as the senior member of the bench mob, leading a high-scoring unit that will likely include Nick “Swaggy P” Young, Xavier Henry, Julius Randle and Ed Davis.

Just imagine—the third all-time assists leader with his uncanny court vision feeding Swaggy P and Randle for easy buckets. Nash can nail his own timely shots as well—possessing one of the purest strokes in the game and a .428 career percentage from behind the arc.

The issue of who should start and who should come off the bench is not about who should or should not play. It’s a question of what most benefits the team—both now and moving forward.

Everyone who has ever been a fan of basketball wants to see Nash go out on his own terms and go out successfully.

But wouldn’t helping Lin to be a better player and bolstering an already potent bench be preferable to struggling against time and a bad back to hold onto a starter’s role and minutes?

Ultimately, youth cannot be denied in sports. To everything there is a season, and this is Jeremy Lin’s time to start and to succeed.