Steve Nash rejoins the Phoenix Suns as a senior advisor as the organization to looks to improves not only its win total but its culture. (Photo by Aaron Gash/Associated Press)

PHOENIX – In the summer of 2012, Phoenix reluctantly said goodbye to its Favorite Sun.

After 10 years of directing the “Seven Seconds or Less” era of Phoenix Suns basketball that included six All-Star selections, a pair of MVP awards and the franchise record for career assists, Steve Nash was sent to the Los Angeles Lakers in a sign-and-trade deal.

Now, Nash is back where he belongs – with the team that drafted him and put him in its Ring of Honor – as a newly minted senior advisor to the Suns.

“Him being around for all of us, just knowing that he is in the gym is going to raise the level of everything,” Suns guard Devin Booker said.

That 2012 blockbuster wasn’t just about basketball. Nash and then-owner Robert Sarver worked together to make sure he could stay close to his children in Phoenix while giving him an opportunity to chase the championship that had eluded during two stints with the Suns and another in Dallas.

It was a farewell rooted in gratitude and respect, a final gesture to a player who would go on to induction into the Hall of Fame in 2018.

Nash made sure at the time of the trade that the city and Suns fans knew what they meant to him.

“I couldn’t be more grateful to the organization and Robert in particular,” Nash told ESPN. “I know how hard this was for him, and the fact that he was able to help me and my family in this way … it means a lot and says a lot about his character. I will never forget this gesture. Above and beyond.”

That moment of parting captured the bond between Nash and Phoenix. Now, more than a decade since he played his last game in a Suns uniform, he is back. Only instead of orchestrating fast breaks, this time he’ll be helping to conduct the franchise’s future.

On September 22, Suns owner Mat Ishbia announced on X that Nash wouldl return as a senior advisor, bringing his voice and vision back to the team where he became a legend.

“Steve Nash was an amazing player and exactly what the Phoenix Suns are all about,” Ishbia said. “His grit, toughness, and winning mentality have defined our organization in the past, and I’m so excited to share that Steve is formally joining the Suns as a senior advisor and will help us define our future for years to come!”

For Booker, the timing could not be better. With no clear point guard in place, Booker is expected to carry more of the playmaking load, and few mentors could be more fitting than arguably the best playmaker in the history of a franchise that has included Dennis Johnson, Kevin Johnson, Jason KIdd and Chris Paul among its best floor leaders.

“I’m excited to further develop that relationship and pick his brain,” Booker said. “Obviously, he’s a mastermind of his sport and has been for a long time.”

Nash’s inclusion on the staff is the latest move in Ishbia’s effort to reshape the Suns’ culture.

Nash joins new general manager Brian Gregory, new coach Jordan Ott and assistant coaches DeMarre Carroll and Mike Muscala in the organization’s retooled leadership.

While Carroll and Muscala will contribute on the court and in player development, Nash’s role will be broader, serving as a consultant across the organization.

Of course, Nash is the centerpiece of this new vision. In the early 2000s, he was not just the point guard of the Suns, he defined the culture of the locker room. He led the team to the playoffs in seven of his 10 seasons, redefining the franchise with his unselfish style and relentless competitiveness.

Ishbia’s plan is to move Phoenix away from star-driven individualism and toward a culture of unity and resilience, values that Nash embodied throughout his career.

“I love bringing former players back,” Ishbia said. “That’s how you create the right culture and organization for the long term. With that being said, Steve Nash is the identity of everything we want: grit, toughness, a winning mentality. He’s just an all-around winner.”

That winning mentality carried beyond his playing career. Even before his retirement, Nash was serving as general manager of Canada Basketball’s Men’s National Team. And when he retired from the NBA in March 2015, it took only six months for him to join the Golden State Warriors as a player-development consultant. That reconnected him with Golden State coach Steve Kerr, who was the Suns general manager during part of Nash’s stay in the Valley.

Nash thrived, introducing innovative training techniques that blended skill development with mental conditioning, all while in a part-time role that allowed him flexibility.

Kerr told The Athletic in 2020 that Nash’s communication skills were “off the charts,” praising not only his ability to help players connect their bodies and minds but also the respect he inspired, which allowed his advice to carry weight in the locker room.

At Golden State, he worked closely with Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Jordan Poole, with Curry noting as early as 2018 and as recently as 2023 on “Hot Ones” that he models his game after Nash, essentially learning to craft his skills with the master himself right beside him. His work emphasized preparation, basketball IQ, and composure under pressure, lessons that could now shape Booker and the next generation of Suns talent.

Durant even credited Nash with easing his decision to join the Warriors, recalling, “I asked him how the guys would feel if I came here. He just said everybody’s selfless, no egos. … I wouldn’t say he made the decision for me, but he made me feel good about it.”

The results spoke volumes. In Nash’s first season, Golden State won 73 games, though the year ended in heartbreak. By 2017 and 2018, the Warriors captured back-to-back titles, giving Nash his first championship rings, not as a player but as a mentor shaping players behind the scenes.

That success paved the way for his first opportunity to be a head coach in the NBA. In September 2020 the Brooklyn Nets signed Nash to a four-year deal, handing him the keys to the Durant and Kyrie Irving era.

But the spotlight did not flatter him. His time in Brooklyn was short-lived and chaotic. Nash thrived in one-on-one settings, but as he admitted in a 2024 interview with Eurohoops, he was “surprised” by how little time head coaches spend with players.

The job demanded more than strategy – it meant managing players, agents, front office politics, and the egos of stars such as Irving, Durant, and later, James Harden. Injuries and absences only added to the turbulence, and under Nash the Nets managed just a 7-9 playoff record.

Eventually the strain became too great. Interestingly, it was Durant – who once leaned on Nash’s advice to join Golden State – who pushed for a coaching change in Brooklyn. General manager Sean Marks, a teammate of Nash’s in Phoenix, had to choose between his star and his coach.

As is usually the case in the NBA, Marks chose the player, and seven games into the 2022-23 season, Nash was dismissed. It ended a chapter in Nash’s career that never appeared to fit his strengths.

Now he’s back in Phoenix, where he and the Suns share a complicated history with Durant. Ott said the decision to add Nash was an easy one.

“It was just what opportunity he wanted and how we could help him feel the best to help this group,” Ott said. “Steve Nash being in the area and being a Phoenix Sun was a no-brainer.”

The hire signals more than a return. It underscores the Suns’ larger plan. With young talent seeking guidance, Nash’s hands-on methods provide a proven path forward, one that allows him to focus on development, culture and unity rather than wrestling with clashing egos.

Nash has wasted no time. Already present at practices, Gregory noted Nash is actively shaping the Suns’ identity and working to restore Phoenix to championship relevance.

“He lives right around the corner from me. He’s been in the gym quite a bit,” Gregory said. “When Steve and I talked with Ishbia and got this done, about two days later we were on the phone, and he was at one of our open runs and workouts just talking about basketball, and he said, ‘we,’ and I was like, ‘damn!’

“Pretty special because it’s back to ‘we.’ Back to where it belongs. He’s going to make a huge impact for us, not only for me and the front office, but with Jordan Ott and his staff. We want highly intelligent, high-character guys, no ego, where the Phoenix Suns mean something – and that’s Steve Nash.”

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