Steve Nash Injury: Fans Must Lower Expectations When Dynamic PG Returns

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the eventual return of Steve Nash to the court for the Los Angeles Lakers isn't going to go as many Lakers fans believe that it will.

Nash is only human—a 38-year-old human at that, one who carries the wear and tear that comes with playing at an exceptionally high level in the NBA for 16 years.

With the Lakers floundering, sitting in 11th place in a stacked Western Conference with a 9-11 record, two games below .500 and on the outside of the playoff picture, many fans believe that things will turn around the moment that Nash steps onto the Staples Center court.

It's true that Nash is one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game, that he's a two-time NBA MVP and an eight-time All-Star.

Coupled with the fact that Mike D'Antoni is now running the Lake Show—and there isn't a coach in the NBA who knows Nash as well as D'Antoni does, having coached him for four years with the Phoenix Suns—it's understandable why fans feel the way that they do.

But Steve Nash is not Mighty Mouse, coming to save the day.

Facts are facts, and the fact is that Steve Nash hasn't played a minute of NBA basketball since Halloween. No matter how phenomenal of an athlete he is, there is going to be considerable rust that he needs to shake off.

Nash and his teammates don't have a lengthy history of playing together, so there's a lack of cohesiveness and familiarity that needs to be tackled as well.

He'll need to re-familiarize himself with D'Antoni's system, considering that he hasn't run a D'Antoni offense in nearly five years.

The point is that it's going to take time before Nash gets back into a groove, before he's playing at the level that we have come to expect from him over his storied career.

Patience is a virtue, and it's one that Lakers fans must learn upon Nash's return.

Failing to do so will only lead to further disappointment.

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