We should not be surprised by Steve Nash's creative work off the basketball court -- directing and producing film, charitable work, and his success as an ad-man.
Nash plays the most creative position in the most creative (major American) pro sport and is generally considered the most creative player of his generation.
Last night, Nash's latest creation aired on ESPN's 30-for-30 series.
"Into the Wind" (which isn't about the proper direction to face when near a sweaty Shaq) ran for a long 60 minutes on Tuesday and will surely repeat 3 or 20,000 times.
Here's a link to my full review of the show:
Reviewing 'Into The Wind', Steve Nash's Telling Of The Terry Fox Story - SB Nation Arizona
I get the appeal of the story and certainly have all the sympathy in the world for Fox and his valiant achievement, but I am hard-pressed to think that story gets green-lit if anyone other than Steve Nash is involved.
As you can probably guess, I am not a fan.
I get the impression that the story itself constrained Nash and limited his natural creativity. It was the Terry Porter of cinematic endeavors.
Creativity is a combination of seeing things that don't yet exist and turning them into a reality.
When Nash is being brilliant on the court with the ball in his hands, it's a combination of seeing possibilities before anyone else and then having the skill to execute his impromptu plan.
You see those same traits at work in his fantastic short videos and commercials. Here's another classic example:
He even says it in this commercial, "It's such a creative outlet to try and encompass all those moving parts."
He's talking about the game but what he says applies to anything Steve puts his attention to.
I've spent time around Nash but don't claim to know him and I am not sure many people do. Steve is always polite and easy-going. He can be funny and charming at times but there always seems to be a wall between him and the world. Maybe the other side of that wall is just a mirror image of the side he displays publicly, but I suspect not.
These non-basketball creative endeavors are a small window through that wall but so far they've only provided a sliver of view. Nothing he's done has been at all introspective. Unlike the greatest artists he's yet to put himself into his work.
Humility and selflessness on the court makes Steve Nash one of the best distributors to ever run a basketball team but at times he's displayed a darker, edgier side to his game as well. That's the movie I want to see Steve Nash make.