In addition to participating in a "tryout" for Italian soccer powerhouse Inter Milan this week, Steve Nash has spoken to a couple reporters about his future, the Lakers' offseason, and the pitch the team made to Dwight Howard at the start of free agency. Here are the highlights from Nash, courtesy of Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com and Grantland's Zach Lowe….
On the possibility of retirement:
"I don't really want to think about it…. I want to concentrate on this season and have a great season and then next year I'll worry about next year. After that there's a chance I could keep playing, but I'm totally open to not playing or playing again and I don't really want to predict. I just want to concentrate on the now and worry about the future when it arrives."
On the Lakers' offseason moves:
"There wasn't a lot of stuff we could do with our salary cap situation, so, to bring in the guys that we did — Jordan [Farmar], [Nick] Young, [Wesley] Johnson, and [Chris] Kaman — I think were great additions. I also think Kurt Rambis is a great addition and [Mark] Madsen, so on and so forth. So, I'm excited. I'm looking forward to getting back to work."
On the Lakers' presentation to Howard:
"We had a plan. First, Dwight met with the business side — Time Warner, the Lakers’ foundation. I don’t know if I’m allowed to give all these details, but it was kind of a pitch for all his off-the-court potential. The second part was Mike [D'Antoni], Kobe [Bryant], myself, Mitch [Kupchak], Jim [Buss], and Tim Harris, the president, and we gave him more of the basketball pitch."
On what he said to Howard during the pitch:
"I just said, number one, that I’m really, really disappointed in the season, and I wanted another shot at it. And that we should come back and right the ship, so to speak. Hopefully I didn’t use so many clichés [Laughs.] And my second point to him was that, when you look back on the career, and you can say you played for the Lakers for eight or 10 years, that’s an incredible opportunity. If I were 27, in the prime of my career, there wouldn’t even be another consideration. It would be the number one place you could play."