Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant knows teammate Steve Nash, 40, did everything he could to return healthy and ready this season. Unfortunately, a recent back injury will end Nash's season and possibly his career.
"You can control what you can control," Bryant said Friday night, according to ESPN. "He did everything to get back and play at a high level. From that standpoint he should be able to sleep at night. I know I would. I can only think about that in my situation; I just tried to do everything possible to be ready, and if it wasn't in the cards, if I couldn't get back to being at that high level, you just have to accept it and when you lay your head down you know that you did absolutely everything possible."
Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak notified Bryant that Nash would miss the season on Thursday.
"It's tough," said Bryant, who later discussed the future with Nash. "I just asked him if he was in good spirits and he said, 'Yeah.' It kind of is what it is at this point ... He struggled with his back even when he was in his prime. I really don't think it's an age thing, it's an injury thing. He's had to deal with it his entire career, and it just caught up with him now."
Kupchak talked with Nash and his agent, Bill Duffy, about the decision to sit out this season earlier in the week.
"I'm not going to share too much," Kupchak said when asked about the conversations that led to Nash's decision, ESPN reported. "A lot of that is private stuff, but I would say we had discussions at the beginning of the week. I have a pretty good relationship with [Nash] over the years. I think I talked to Steve more than the representative about the issue and I have a great relationship with Bill Duffy, his agent. In fact, Bill and I met here yesterday to make sure we're on the same page in terms of the [news] release because it's a sensitive kind of thing. It's a little unusual. Something like that you normally hammer out with an agent, but because of the relationship [with Nash] I spent a lot of time with him."
The two-time MVP appeared in just 15 games last season.
