{"id":159859,"date":"2025-09-22T18:32:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T22:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=159859"},"modified":"2025-09-22T18:32:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T22:32:11","slug":"suns-legend-joining-team-as-senior-advisor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/22\/suns-legend-joining-team-as-senior-advisor\/","title":{"rendered":"Suns Legend Joining Team As Senior Advisor"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the first time since 2012, Steve Nash<\/a> is living in the Valley. The former point guard will join the Phoenix Suns as a senior advisor, team owner Mat Ishbia stated on Monday. It will be Nash’s first front office role.<\/p>\n

“Steve Nash was an amazing player and exactly what the Phoenix Suns are all about,” Ishbia said on X<\/a>. “His grit, toughness, and winning mentality have defined our organization in the past…(He) will help us define our future for years to come.”<\/p>\n

Suns Legend Joining Team As Senior Advisor<\/h2>\n

Nash’s Time With the Suns<\/h3>\n

It seems that every decade of Suns history has a star player. Nash was that for the 2000s.<\/p>\n

Drafted 15th overall by Phoenix in 1996, Nash mainly starred as a bench player before joining the Dallas Mavericks in 1998. He returned to Arizona six years later as the team’s crown jewel. Winning back-to-back MVPs in 2005 and 2006, the point guard was known for his ball-handling abilities. He averaged over 10 assists per game in every season, except 2008-09, during his second stint with the team. Nash also spearheaded the team’s point production, averaging double figures in those seasons as well.<\/p>\n

Working alongside Amar’e Stoudemire<\/a>, Shawn Marion<\/a> and Shaquille O’Neal<\/a>, the Suns excelled with Nash on the court. They made the postseason five times between 2004 and 2010. This included getting the Western Conference’s top seed in the 2004-05 campaign, losing to eventual champions San Antonio Spurs in the conference finals.<\/p>\n

Nash left the Valley for the Los Angeles Lakers thirteen years ago, and retired after an injury-ridden 2013-14 season.<\/p>\n

Since Retirement<\/h3>\n

The former Sun has taken on multiple post-retirement roles. It started in 2015, when he became a part-time consultant for the dynasty driven Golden State Warriors. During his two-year tenure in the Bay Area, they posted a 73-9 regular season record and won the 2017 NBA championship, avenging their Finals loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers the year prior.<\/p>\n

Switching coasts after a brief hiatus, Nash became the Brooklyn Nets’ head coach on September 3rd, 2020. He led the team featuring James Harden<\/a>, Kevin Durant<\/a> and Kyrie Irving<\/a> to the NBA playoffs during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. He and the Nets parted ways<\/a> on November 1st, 2022.<\/p>\n

\"Steve
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 26: Steve Nash Head Coach Brooklyn Nets reacts during game against the Denver Nuggets at Barclays Center on January 26, 2022 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michelle Farsi\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since then, Nash has dabbled in broadcasting. He co-hosted the Mind the Game podcast alongside LeBron James this year, and will join Amazon Prime’s NBA coverage this season as an analyst.<\/p>\n

Nash was also inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame alongside Jason Kidd<\/a>, Grant Hill<\/a>, Ray Allen<\/a>, Maurice Cheeks<\/a> and Charlie Scott<\/a> in 2018. He was also honored named to the NBA’s 75th anniversary team<\/a> in 2021.<\/p>\n

Last Word on Steve Nash<\/h3>\n

After a tumultuous season, which ended in the firing of Mike Budenholzer<\/a>, Nash’s addition seems like a breath of fresh air.<\/p>\n

The Suns are in need of the same energy that carried them to the 2021 NBA Finals and a first place conference finish in 2022. Bringing in a legend like Nash can remind the fanbase about the team’s history and culture.<\/p>\n

While Nash is not on the coaching staff, he can also share input on the team’s current issues. For example, the team’s starting point guard<\/a> and power forward<\/a> with the departures of Bradley Beal<\/a> and Durant. But also the side’s young core and a first-time head coach in Jordan Ott.<\/p>\n

In Ishbia’s fan-first approach to ownership, Nash’s hire gives Suns fans nostalgia of past successes, and a sign towards a brighter future.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the first time since 2012, Steve Nash is living in the Valley. The former point guard will join the Phoenix Suns as a senior advisor, team owner Mat Ishbia stated on Monday. It will be Nash’s first front office role. “Steve Nash was an amazing player and exactly what the Phoenix Suns are all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5618,"featured_media":159891,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,1608,62],"tags":[311,69,2271,1186],"class_list":["post-159859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-suns","category-basketball","category-nba","tag-bradley-beal","tag-kevin-durant","tag-shawn-marion","tag-steve-nash"],"modified_by":"Zach Kircher","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5618"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159859"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159892,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159859\/revisions\/159892"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}