Kobe Bryant On ESPN - Speaking Steve Nash, Olympics, Dwight Howard Video, Before two-time MVP Steve Nash agreed to join the Los Angeles Lakers, he wanted to make sure the team's five-time champion was on board.
That meant a phone call with Kobe Bryant.
Scott Van Pelt
Phoenix Suns forward Josh Childress says it stings a little more to lose Steve Nash given that he went to the Lakers. Childress says Nash is a great guy and you have to respect him.
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"For me, it was important to speak to him and make sure he was completely on board, and that he could kind of visualize this as being a good fit, and being excited about it. So I spoke to him," Nash told Max Kellerman and Mychal Thompson on 710 ESPN. "Kobe, he was great. He was excited, and explained to me how he thought it would help, and why he thought it would be great, and I think a lot of the reasons he had were ones I could already envision before speaking to him."
The Lakers and Suns agreed on a sign-and-trade sending Nash to Los Angeles, where he will be given a three-year deal worth an estimated $27 million. The Lakers, well over the salary and luxury tax levels, can absorb Nash into the trade exception created when they dealt Lamar Odom to Dallas last December.
Phoenix will receive four picks from the Lakers -- a pair of each in the first (2013, 2015) and second (2013, 2014) rounds.
Ultimately, Nash chose the Lakers both because they provide him the best opportunity to win a title of the teams interested in acquiring him, and because it allows him to stay in close proximity to Phoenix, where his three children live.
The trade can't be officially completed until July 11, when the NBA lifts its moratorium on new business.
Kobe Bryant On ESPN - Speaking Steve Nash, Olympics, Dwight Howard Video
