Sunset: Steve Nash retires at 41

One of the most illustrious and inspiring careers in basketball history has reached its conclusion.

Steve Nash formally announced his retirement at age 41 on Saturday with a poignant piece in The Players' Tribune.

"I will likely never play basketball again," Nash wrote. "It's bittersweet."

The two-time MVP and future Hall of Famer was shut down for the season in October due to lingering back and nerve issues, and has played in only 65 games over the last three seasons since joining the Lakers.

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"When I signed with the Lakers, I had big dreams of lifting the fans up and lighting this city on fire," Nash wrote. "I turned down more lucrative offers to come to L.A. because I wanted to be in the 'fire,' and play for high risk and high reward in my last NBA chapter. In my second game here, I broke my leg and nothing was the same."

It was reported last week that Nash intended to retire before the start of this season, only for the Lakers to request he not so they could use his sizable expiring contract in potential trade negotiations.

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Nash, the 15th overall selection in a star-studded 1996 Draft, retires with career averages of 14.3 points, 8.5 assists and three rebounds on a sensational shooting split of 49-43-90. The sweet-shooting Canadian has recorded four of the 10 50-40-90 seasons in NBA history.

Nash thanked a number of teammates, coaches, friends and family members in his piece, with Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Finley, Don Nelson, Mike D'Antoni and the Suns' legendary training staff receiving their fair share of credit from the humble superstar.

Nash and Nowitzki spent six seasons together in Dallas.

"After all the wins and all the great times we've had around the world together, what really means the most to me are the late nights early in our careers when we'd go back to the Landry Center in Dallas, to play a few more games of HORSE and one-on-one," Nash wrote of his time with Dirk.

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He also bestowed quite the honor on D'Antoni, who orchestrated the famed "Seven Seconds Or Less" Suns teams that Nash spearheaded in his prime years, writing that the former Coach of the Year changed the game.

"There's not many people you can say that about," Nash said of D'Antoni's trendsetting ways. "No wonder I had my best years playing for him."

Nash won back-to-back Most Valuable Player awards with the Suns in 2005 and 2006. Despite all of his NBA accomplishments, however, the 18-year veteran called representing Canada at the 2000 Olympics the best experience of his career.

He'll have plenty to keep him busy as he journeys into a new, basketball-less chapter. Nash, a notable philanthropist who contributes to a number of humanitarian causes, is the general manager of Canada's senior international team and a part owner of Major League Soccer's Vancouver Whitecaps.

Nash has also dabbled in film making, directing the 2010 ESPN 30 for 30 "Into the Wind" on Canadian icon Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope. He also chronicled his trying and painful return to the court during the 2013-14 season in a documentary for Grantland.

"When I think of my career, I can't help but think of the kid with his ball, falling in love," Nash concluded. "That's still what I identify with and did so throughout my entire story."