Why Steve Nash deserves a better send off

The NBA is supposed to be celebrating the most highly anticipated season in years. Instead, less than a week before the season tips off, the basketball world is coming to grips with the career mortality of one of its all-time greats.

No one should rush to eulogize Steve Nash's career until the man himself confirms it has reached its end, but with the announcement that he won't take the court this season due to recurring back issues, reality is certainly setting in.

By the time this season is over, Nash will have played just 65 games over three years. To put it in perspective, he played 62 games in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season alone and missed only 41 games total over an 11-year span from 2001-02 through 2011-12.

If this is the end of Nash's NBA career, it's an absolute shame he had to go out like this. A two-time MVP and surefire Hall of Famer who exemplified selflessness both on and off the court deserves a better send off.

In the immediate aftermath of Thursday's announcement, many basketball fans will feel disappointment and sadness. After all, Nash's potential demise could signal the beginning of the end for a nostalgic era.

But the very thought that Nash's career may be over will also inspire fans to recall and relive his brilliance.

In his absolute prime, Nash's impact on teammates was unlike anything many fans had ever seen.

There have been greater legends, of course, and much more physically dominating MVPs. But few players in league history have made teammates better the way Nash did in his peak Suns years.

The probing of defenses by dribbling through and around the paint. The fast breaks. The Seven Seconds or Less offense. The mesmerizing passing. The ability to make basketball magic out of barely visible passing lanes and to exploit the tiniest cracks of space. Nash ran a masterclass in these areas for years.

His teammates, opponents and fans - all of us - were fortunate to have been his students.

And who could forget the historical marksmanship? Only six players have ever posted a 50-40-90 season, with those six players combining for 10 such seasons. Nash has contributed four of them and, despite playing in over 1,200 games and logging over 38,000 minutes, he's managed to flirt with a career 50-40-90 shooting split.

Through 18 seasons, he shot 49 percent from the field, 42.8 percent from deep and 90.4 percent from the free-throw line, good for a career True Shooting Percentage of .605.

When it comes to shooting, what would be a career month for the average player is what Nash has made look average for the better part of two decades.

In addition to all that offensive finesse was one of the toughest competitors the game has seen, as Nash's rearranging of his own nose in the middle of a playoff game and stamina into his late 30s will attest.

Perhaps that's what makes tonight's news all the more sobering.

For years, Steve Nash was the rebuttal to anyone who argued that Father Time was undefeated.

Not anymore.