They came up the red carpet in waves, a little older than you might have remembered in your mind’s eye, the steps a little slower but the gait familiar.
Yes, that was Julius Erving. There was Pat Ewing, larger than life, but not larger than Dikembe Mutombo. Mike Krzyzewski, Dominique Wilkens, Isaiah Thomas and Dirk Nowitzki were also on hand.
Everywhere you looked was legendary.
It was a basketball highlight film come to life, except everyone was wearing their best suit. Players, coaches, executives milled about, championship rings flashing, hugs heartfelt. It was part Walk-of-Fame, part homecoming. They made their way up the steps and into Symphony Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts to welcome the class of 2018 into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.
Steve Nash fit right in. Accompanied by his wife Lilla Fredrick, his four children, his mom and dad and a collection of Canadian friends, Nash made his way along the red carpet, up the stairs and into Symphony Hall in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts, not far from where James Naismith tacked up a peach basket at the International YMCA Training School more than a century ago.
He was second-last to speak in a deep class that featured among others former teammates Grant Hill and Jason Kidd; Ray Allen who was in Nash’s draft class; Katie Smith and Tina Thompson – trailblazers in the women’s game; Maurice Cheeks, whose heartfelt speech almost stole the show and longtime NBA executive Rick Welts who went into the hall as the first openly gay executive in major sports history.
When it came time for Nash to take the microphone; to make his enshrinement real, it still seemed like it he could barely believe it was happening.
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Essential to Nash’s own story is the way he had to fight for everything along the way.
“I was an underdog,” he said before the ceremony on Friday night. “I scrapped and clawed my way into college, I did the same in the NBA, I just never stopped. I kept working my way up and eventually had the type of career that allows me to be here. When I came into the league I don’t think there was anybody – myself included – that would have thought this was the effect of my skills and abilities.”
But there he was, on stage, part of the fabric, no longer an underdog, but a Hall of Famer, the ultimate validation.
“I was never, ever supposed to be here. It was a proud moment walking up those steps, for sure,” was how Nash started his 20-minute speech that he claims he hadn’t begun preparing even 24 hours prior but which he pulled off as flawlessly as he used to run transition offence in Phoenix, striking all the right chords without a note in sight.
He thanked his parents and his brother and sister. He thanked every coach he ever played for, right back to Arbutus Middle School in Victoria B.C. He called out his junior high teammates by name and listed things he’d learned from mentors and teammates and friends over his career.
He was funny – he got a good laugh sharing how he earned his playing time as a rookie in Phoenix on strength of 1-on-1 games with his then head coach, Danny Ainge. “It was fun to beat your coach,” he said, with Ainge – now running the Boston Celtics – looking on from the audience, powerless to correct the record.
He was warm – speaking about the central role his young family is playing in his post-retirement life and how time with them has taken top priority in his new life.
But most importantly he provided insight into how his own hall-of-fame career unfolded;, he left the stage with a blueprint for his fairy tale:
“Find something you love to do, do it every day,” was how began the final moments of his speech which he addressed to his own kids and children everywhere. “Be obsessed — balance can come later. Use your imagination. Put pen to paper. Declare your intentions. Set small goals. Knock them off, set more goals. Gain momentum, build confidence. Grow a deep belief. Outwork people. Play the long game. You don’t have to be the chosen one. The secret is to build the resolve and the spirit to enjoy the plateaus, the times when you don’t feel like you’re improving and you’re questioning why you’re doing this. If you’re patient the plateaus will become springboards. Finally, never stop striving; reaching for your goals until you get there.”
“But the truth is” he said, “even when you get there – even when you get here, on this stage – it’s the striving, the fighting, the pushing yourself to the limits every day that you’ll miss and you’ll long for.
“You’ll never be more alive than when you give something everything you have.”
Well said after a career well played.
