On paper, it was one of the greatest back court pairings in league history. You had a two-time MVP paired up with a five-time NBA champion. You had a pass-first point guard with a ball-dominant shooting guard. Most importantly, you had two of the best players of their draft class and generation pairing up for a run at a title.
In reality, the signs were there. Both Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash were defying Father Time all along. Nash had the luxury of having one of the greatest training staffs, helping maintain his immense health. Bryant’s incredibly work ethic and ability to maintain his peak conditioning.
When played out, neither Nash nor Bryant have been able to fend off Father Time, both missing substantial games in their time together. From game one, Nash battled injuries, a broken leg leading to nerve damage, leading to back issues, leading to complications in all three seasons with the Lakers.
Bryant battled hard through the first season, but succumbed to an injury himself when he tore his Achilles late in the season.
Since then, the duo have not played together aside from one preseason game this year. The duo have failed to live up to any expectations, managing less than a season of disappointing contests.
Cruel as can be, the duo gave Lakers fans one more chance to get excited, with both of them looking healthy and capable in the first preseason game against the Nuggets. Just as quickly, we were ripped back to reality once again as Nash sat out the second preseason game and then leaving the third game with an injury.
If Nash has proven anything in L.A., it’s that he can’t be relied upon. He may be able to buck the trend in his last season here, but the fear is that he may be dealing with an issue similar to last season.
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The Lakers were robbed of something that could have been special. At best, this duo will only be able to show us only a small percentage of the output we expected. Nash will never be anything close to what he was pre-injury, and Bryant has lost a good chunk of his explosiveness, now relying on mid-range post-ups and his high IQ.
These two, at best, are going to give you above average offense and below average defense. However, it’s hard to expect the best from them given what has happened over the last two seasons. In reality, expecting anything substantial from them would be unreasonable, and that’s the harsh reality.
Unfortunately, Nash and Bryant are battling their bodies as much as they battle opponents. It’s hard to expect much from these two, namely because Nash is so undependable. Given what we’ve seen the last two seasons, this duo is going to go down in history as what they never could do as opposed to what they did.
Do you think this duo has anything left for this season? Let us know in the comments below!