Steve Nash Tells Hilarious Story of Steph Curry Forcing His Retirement

Steve Nash recently shared a funny and revealing story about how facing Steph Curry made him realize it was time to retire from the NBA. The Suns legend spent his final two seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, closing out an impressive 16-year career that had begun to take its toll on his body.

The Preseason Wake-Up Call

During a Lakers preseason game against the Golden State Warriors in 2013, Nash decided to test whether he could still compete effectively. As he recalled, Curry’s performance quickly gave him his answer.

“We went to play these guys preseason in like Ontario, California, or somewhere. I think they put up like 50 in the first quarter. Maybe it was 45, but it felt like a 50-piece, right? I couldn’t have probably stopped him even if I were 100 percent.”

Nash described his frustration as Warriors coach Steve Kerr kept putting him in plays that forced him to defend Curry, while assistant coach Alvin Gentry looked on laughing. The moment became a turning point for Nash.

“I’m like, man, literally like three, four more days of thinking on it, I was like ‘Yeah, I think it’s time [to retire]. I called Mitch Kupchak.’”

Passing the Torch

Nash admitted that Curry’s rise in the league helped him accept his own decline. He offered a mix of humility and humor about their respective eras.

“You deserve a little bit of putting me out to pasture, a little bit of my retirement. When he came into the league, I still felt like the big brother a little bit. I still felt like I had the upper hand.”

Legacy and Reflection

Though the story is told with a laugh, it captures a moment of honest self-reflection from one of basketball’s greats. Nash’s encounter with Curry symbolized the passing of the guard from one generation of elite point guards to the next.

Author’s Summary: Nash humorously recounts how Steph Curry’s dominance in a preseason game made him realize it was time to end his celebrated NBA career.

Basketball Forever — 2025-11-05