PHOENIX — Hall of Fame point guard Steve Nash sparked a wave of social media reaction this week after opening up about his admiration for Black athletes and entertainers during a candid podcast conversation with Lebron James.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!In a new episode of Mind Game Pod, Nash reflected on his early days falling in love with basketball, crediting the cultural and athletic influence of Black icons for shaping his style and identity.
“Started playing basketball, fell in love with it,” Nash said. “The first Air Jordan 1s, the Spike Lee commercials, Nike’s ‘Let’s Do It.’ Right when I was in eight grade… I was like this world is amazing. And then — let’s also be real — I wanted to be Black.
Nash, a two-time MVP and one of the league’s most respected pass-first point guards, explained that as a teenager in Canada, his basketball heroes — Isaiah Thomas, Tim Hardaway, Michael Jordan — were overwhelmingly Black. The music he listened to, the ads he watched, and the game he studied were all rooted in Black excellence.
“All the best players in the world were Black. All the best rappers,” Nash continued. “You want to emulate anyone who had something about ’em.”
The comments drew a spectrum of reactions on social media. Some fans criticized the notion, writing, “You’ll NEVER see a Black person saying ‘I wanted to be White.'” Others praised Nash’s transparency and respect for the cultural lineage that shaped modern basketball.
Nash referenced players like Austin Reaves and himself as white guards who modeled their games on Black legends. “He, like me, wanted to do more with the ball. You want to emulate the greats.”
While Lebron James responded lightheartedly — joking about Reaves and how they tell him, “There is no way you learned that in f***ing Arkansas,” — the moment prompted deeper conversations about race, identity and influence in sports.
For Nash, now years removed from his playing day and favored to be the Suns new coach, the moment was less about controversy ad more about reflection on how deeply basketball, and the Black culture surrounding it, shaped who he became.
The conversation continues to trend, as fans, critics and players debate the layers of cultural appreciation, appropriation, and honesty in the world of sports.
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Reporter Reyna Stanley covers the Phoenix Mercury and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow her on X @rey_stanley776.
