I've been quiet this offseason. Really quiet. Truth is that I hate trade talks. I can't take them. It's hard for me to look at basketball like a business, maybe the fact that I played for my country for $200 bucks a month has something to do with that. Who knows?
I still believe that there's people who choose winning over money, I believe there's people who swallow their pride to play like a team and accomplish the desired goal. Call me naïve, I've heard it before. It still amazes me how good players go to awful teams just to get a big fat pay check. Where's their desire to win? How can they feel good about themselves after losing most of the games? When I ask these questions out loud, there's usually a friend who answers the following: "P-Sun, I guess it's easy to lose games when you go home driving a Ferrari and a super model wife/girlfriend is waiting for you in bed just wearing Victoria's Secret underwear". Yup, I guess he's right. When the Panama National Team lost I had to go back home in a bus in the middle of the night with two dollars in my wallet...so yeah, I guess that makes losing a little more difficult. So, on game days there was only one thing on my mind when I was bringing the ball down the court: Win. This. Game. Do whatever it takes, there's no way I'm making that ride back home harder than it already is. And this is how everyone should play the game.
You play basketball to win, period. Whoever tells you they play basketball to have "fun" is lying. Steve Nash might say it, but I don't believe him. Think about it. The guy trains as hard as anyone, is on a very strict diet, plays a style of basketball that takes a toll on his body and he's been really close of getting that elusive Larry O'Brien trophy. Do you really think he has given up? Does his decision to stay with Phoenix shows that he doesn't care about the championship? No and Hell No.
Sure, He has said on several interviews that he'll be at peace if he retires and never wins a ring but he also has mentioned that if he doesn't feel he has a shot at winning it, if he doesn't want to compete and if doesn't feel he's got that fire in him he'll just retire.
I agree that he sounded bored on the interview, he talked a lot about chemistry and having fun but maybe he's tired of talking and saying they are contenders, maybe it's time to prove it on the court instead of saying it. I'll never question Nash's desire to win. Even when he's playing badly I feel he gives everything he's got on the court and I believe he'll do the same thing when the season starts.
Everyone's down on the Suns. I get that. You look at the Mavs and Spurs and everyone getting better and it's hard to think the Suns will have a shot but I'll tell you this: As long as Steve Nash has a healthy Amar'e receiving his passes, as long as LB continues to blow by defenders, as long as Lou is blocking shots and Dudley hustling, as long as Richardson is doing 360 dunks without Lebron being near him...The Suns will continue to be a very tough team.
NBA basketball is a business but it's also a game. Games are played to win and sometimes winning starts by getting along with your team mates, Task Cohesion. Back to basics.