Once again, the Los Angeles Lakers are wondering if Steve Nash will actually be able to play a full season. The point guard denied retirement was in his future this season, opting in on the final year of his contract instead. Nash has barely been seen on the court over the past two seasons as a back issue and nerve damage continue to keep him on the bench. He entered 2014 declaring himself healthy and even managed to play some preseason minutes. However, luggage has now caused a setback as Nash is once again injured.
The first sign that Nash might not be as healthy as he claimed at the start of training camp came on Sunday. The point guard left a preseason game early claiming that his body just did not feel right. Now, he has a confirmed back injury that is putting the start to his season in question. Head coach Byron Scott told the media on Wednesday that Nash injured his back while lifting his luggage at home. Right now, Scott says he has no idea when Nash will return to the court.
"There's some concern," Scott said, via the LA Times. "From my standpoint, I've got to kind of figure out if he's going to be able to play every day or not. Or if he's going to be able to play every other game. Or which games can he play? Obviously in the next couple of weeks, we've got some time to come to a conclusion on how we're going to handle this whole situation."
The Lakers opted not to release Nash this offseason, remaining faithful to the veteran that he would finish his career in Los Angeles. The team certainly had the option to waive his $9.7 million contract that would have opened the door to signing a big-time free agent like Carmelo Anthony or even Pau Gasol. However, they kept the point guard and could now be regretting that decision.
The Lakers will now cross their fingers that Jeremy Lin is capable of handling the starting job while the door is open for players like Jordan Clarkson and Wayne Ellington to get more playing time. One player that will see his minutes decrease for the Lakers is Kobe Bryant. Scott told the media that he met with the franchise star and they agreed upon a set number of minutes each game which should be somewhere around 30 to 40. Scott noted that originally Bryant's intended minutes were lower than what Scott was thinking, but they think the 30-40 gap is reasonable and attainable.
