Steve Nash Q&A: On Mavs 'Force of Nature' Cuban & 'Feared' Jordan
DALLAS - Steve Nash was a standout point guard while playing for Mark Cuban's Dallas Mavericks from 1998 to 2004. Establishing himself as a quality point guard, Nash and Dirk Nowitzki paired into a formidable pick-and-roll duo.
But he found another Dallas buddy, Cuban, to be fairly formidable, too.
A "force of nature,'' is how Nash describes the owner.
After helping Dallas to four straight playoff berths, Nash became a free agent. Nash’s desire to stay in Dallas is well-documented - but he wanted to get paid, too, all of which led to Cuban’s decision to let Nash walk - in part due to the belief that Steve was due to break down phyiscally. ... all of which Cuban later lamented.
And why?
Well, after switching to the Phoenix Suns, Nash won the MVP award twice (2005, 2006) and eventually becoming a 2018 inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
No one will ever know the answer to “What if Nash would have stayed a Maverick?”
However, we can enjoy Nash’s opinion of what it was like to play under the ownership of Cuban.
“Playing for Mark was incredible,” Nash said on Showtime Basketball’s ‘All the Smoke.’ “Mark could in some ways get under your skin at times, but he was such a pioneering person for the game. Pushing the envelope on everything – the rules, the way we went about things, refereeing.”
If there was any bad blood (and there was), it seems it has turned to water under the bridge. And there is no arguing that Cuban is still a powerful voice in the NBA.
On a side note related to ESPN’s “The Last Dance” docuseries that in terms of eyeballs continues to rule the sports world, Nash’s gives his insight into Michael Jordan and his career.
“He just had this charisma on top of all the gifts and skills and mentally, you know how great he is,” Nash said. “Playing against him, the one thing that I think he was unlike any other player I’ve played against is that there was a real fear playing against him.
"I’ve never seen the league be kinda fearful of a player or have that much reverence for a player.”
