Steve Nash Deserves Better, Must Be Allowed to Determine His Own Future

Steve Nash is truly one of the class acts in the league. It's easy to say that, but there probably aren't many who exhibit that trait more than Nash. His off-the-court life is very much defined by his on-the-court game in the sense that he makes the people around him better. 

Nash is a man who has been awarded the highest civilian award a Canadian can receive, the Order of Canada, for his numerous philanthropic endeavors. He won't endorse a product if he feels the company is socially irresponsible. He even paid for a pediatric cardiology ward in a Paraguayan hospital. 

He was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. That's not athletes mind you, but people. 

Class is a word that just epitomizes everything about him. Whether he's "earned the right" to chase a ring is really only part of the story. He's also earned the right to not go chase a ring. Either way, he's entitled to just do what he wants to do. 

It's easy for us, as writers or fans, to simply sit back and tell others what they should do with their lives. It's easy for us to us to say he's "earned the right" to chase a ring. But what if he doesn't want to go chase a ring?

What if it's just not that important to him? I know it's important to the New York fans and media for instance, to see Steve Nash come and chase a championship. Does that mean he's supposed to feel the same way?

Sure, he lives in Manhattan in the offseason, has a history with Amar'e Stoudemire and Mike D'Antoni and would make the Knicks offense work. Sure, at his age he should not be doing what he's still doing, but he's doing it anyway. 

I'm not for a moment suggesting that he wouldn't be a great fit in New York or that there would be thing wrong with him going there. 

If he wants to be traded, then he should be traded. 

The thing is, if he doesn't want it, he shouldn't be compelled to answer questions about it at every turn of the head. What he deserves more than anything else is to simply be left alone to make his own decisions without getting harangued into doing what he doesn't want to do. 

It's time to give the man a break and just allow him be who he is. If the most important thing in the world to him isn't chasing a ring, let him be. He's earned the right to chase a ring or not chase one. Most of all he's earned the right to make a decision in peace.