After losing to the Chicago Bulls on Sunday afternoon, the Los Angeles Lakers did not take a day off. On Monday, the gym was full again. Steve Nash, who left Sunday’s game after experiencing nerve irritation, was back at practice.
He did not practice in full, but he did take part in drills and break a sweat. Nash appeared optimistic that he would be back for Tuesday’s game.
“I’m hoping I’ll be better tomorrow,” Nash said after Monday’s practice. “I still enjoy being back there on the court so much that this is nothing compared to that feeling of being one of the guys and being on the team and trying to win games. It’s still well worth it for me.”
Nash seemed in good spirits about picking up where he left off on his 40th birthday. On that date, Nash came out and led the Lakers to victory with a team-high 19 points.
The latest setback was caused by an unexpected collision where Nash felt contact with the same point where he suffered his leg break in 2012. Suddenly, the nerve flared up, and Nash was out of Sunday's game and facing questions of availability again.
“There’s no reason to sit out if it’s better tomorrow, and I feel good,” Nash responded when asked why he was not just shutting everything down until after the upcoming All-Star break. “If it is an issue, then definitely not going to try to jeopardize any further prolonged absences again.”
Nash’s recovery involves constantly moving and doing work to ease the nerve irritation. Even if he took the time off, Nash would be working out twice a day to better prepare himself to play. Unlike Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol’s rehabilitation activities, Nash would find himself working just as hard if he took the time off.
The two weeks before he made his comeback, Nash went up to Vancouver and performed two workouts per day, and those sessions allowed him to get back. In his mind, the longer he is back, the longer he can stay back.
With that in mind, Nash should play on Tuesday against the Utah Jazz.
