OKC Thunder: ‘Captain Canada’ Nash, the perfect SGA role model
Gilgeous-Alexander grew up in the era of ‘Captain Canada’
NBA fans know Nash as the brilliant assist man who flourished in Phoenix running Mike D’Antoni’s seven seconds or less offense. But, back home in Canada, he is known as someone who had to fight to beat the odds, never giving up.
Nash wasn’t highly recruited in his College years playing at the little-known Santa Clara University. In the school’s history, the men’s basketball squad made 11 appearances in March Madness with the last three trips occurring in 1993, 1995, and 1996. Not coincidentally, those were three of the four years Nash was there.
The infamous work ethic was on full display even in those early years as Nash averaged a meager 8.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in his freshman year. By his junior year, Nash was turning into a star and averaged 20.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 6.4 assists.
Similarly, his foray into the pros wasn’t met with immediate success either. Drafted by the Suns, he was playing a backup role behind Kevin Johnson, Jason Kidd, and Sam Cassell. A trade to Dallas occurred in his third year (Dirk Nowitzki’s rookie year) but it took three seasons before he witnessed success with the Mavericks and began to offer hints of what was to come.
Returning back to Phoenix as a free agent, he won back-to-back MVP awards becoming one of the few players to reach the coveted 50-40-90 club in the 2005-06 season (51.2% | 43.9% | 92.1%). A feat he replicated on four occasions and flirted within five additional campaigns. Last season SGA hit the first two parts of that equation but shot only 80.8 percent from the charity stripe.
Nash’s role with the Canadian National team is equally celebrated north of the border. There are stories of the scrappy point guard’s tenacity and how driven he was to lead the team to win a medal. In 2000, Nash and Todd MacCulloch (76ers) were the NBA player on the Sydney team (along with Rowan Barrett – R.J.’s Dad). The team came up short (7th) but considering the competition they were impressive. It was also the last time the Canadians played at the Olympics.
Captain Canada became a moniker that stuck he was instrumental (along with Vince Carter playing for the Raptors) for the hordes of young boys and girls who elected to take up the sport instead of hockey. Cut to the present day, and his influence is on full display in the NBA with Canada boasting the second-highest number of players in the association behind the U.S.
If you caught the recent U.S. Open, young tennis phenom Leylah Annie Fernandez had Nash in her box in the semi-finals. In her celebratory post-game interview she spoke of how her Dad used Nash as an example of beating the odds and hard work.