Steve Nash Quotes

In the past, I had my idols but today I enjoy learning from all the soccer I watch.

There's a lot of guys that I obviously admire. The Gary Paytons, me growing up in Seattle being able to watch him play. Even my peers now, the Patrick Beverleys and the Kawhi Leonards, I admire those guys.

When I started Giants of Africa, I envisioned providing African youth access to the game and empowering them to achieve their greatest potential.

If you want to be like the greats, you learn from the greats.

We often grow up being told that we can do this or that, but if you don't see anybody that looks like you doing it, you don't believe you can do it. But I had great teachers, and I wanted to be a great teacher.

We need to offer great examples to our youth.

The three greatest people in my life were white, OK. My high school coach, my high school superintendent and my mentor in Manhasset, Long Island.

I think it's brilliant to see players you've grown up with on the international stage come through to senior level.

I had no desire to coach college until I went to college. Then I said, 'Maybe I can do this.' You get inspired by the people around you who move you and light a fire under you.

I'm still a young player - I'm still learning - so all I can try to do is soak up what's around me, and I've got great individuals, great people, to learn from and inspire to be like as well as how I want to play, so I'm grateful to be in the position I'm in and learn from the people I am.

I remember famous people coming in to speak to me when I was in school and being inspired by them.

When I first got to Oklahoma, it was really a blessing that coach Sutton was at Oklahoma State. He made me a better coach.

I always watched Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson, and I said I could be playing on the court with them.

Basketball gave me an avenue to live my dream, and I just want to help other kids live their dreams through me.

When you work with people you aspire to be like, you pay attention to them.

I would love to mentor youngsters.

My parents are huge influences on me. My mother was an English teacher. My father played professional rugby and coached rugby for the Irish rugby team.

I have vets like Antoine Walker, Greg Buckner, Mark Madsen, and Michael Doleac who keep me motivated to want to get better.

I love teaching I think more than anything. It's the opportunity to just teach young people and teach the game. You teach more than basketball. You teach life skills. The teaching part of it is something that I am passionate about. I look forward to every practice. A lot of people say well, I enjoy coaching, but I see myself as more as a teacher.

In White Boy Shuffle, I combined my seventh-grade teacher, Mr. Takemoto, who really saved me - I don't think I've ever told anyone this - and my first basketball coach, Mr. Shimizu, into one character. Something about the way they talked about things, and their attitudes, had a huge impact on me. Not that I necessarily agreed with them. It was important to me to just put them there to stay grounded.

For eager teachers seized my youth, pruned my faith and trimmed my fire. Showed me the high, white star of truth, there bade me gaze and there aspire.

Cultivating relationships with people who've achieved what you want to achieve makes the path fuller and more fun. You don't know everything, and that is so okay, because there are many people who want to help you along your journey. I used to think people above me might get jealous because I wanted to do what they did. But no, people are much nicer than that.

Everyone and everything is in some degree or other our teacher.

I think I unknowingly seek people who are better than me in the sense of strength and wisdom. It's like I've got to know and trust that you have the answers and that you can carry me if needed.

It's so funny, all the similarities that we have [with David Copperfield] of being obsessed young people and finding a way to be around the people doing what we want to do.