Steve Nash
I've been all over the world, and I always think people won't know who I am. They do. The way basketball has been embraced globally always amazes me. And I'm glad the world has got a chance to learn from a guy like Steve Nash.
What has he taught us? It pays to be selfless. You can be content just to make the players around you better. There are too many scoring point guards in the NBA today, and the game has suffered. People think that in order to be a great player, you have to lead the league in scoring. Forget that — despite averaging only 15.5 points a game, fourth best on his team, Nash was the MVP of the NBA last season, the first Canadian ever to win that honor. He deserved it: his 11.5 assists per game clinched it for him. And he's doing an even better job this season. To top it off, Nash, 32, is just a nice guy. He recently used endorsement money to help pay for a new pediatric cardiology ward in a Paraguayan hospital. That's beyond admirable. Over the past few years, his popularity has exploded. His ego could have swelled — everyone else's does. But he still just wants to pass the ball.
I'm a lucky guy to be living in Phoenix. The sun. The golf. And I get to watch Nash act like a magician on the court. Can't top that. And who knows? Maybe he'll inspire a whole new generation of kids to pass out of double teams the way he does. Like Nash, maybe they'll be selfless off the court too. That would be even better.
Barkley was just voted to the NBA Hall of Fame