Honoring A Home Town Hero – Dr. Steve Nash!

It’s not too often that a multi-millionaire athlete is recognized as being simply a ‘good guy’ and not that much different than when he was struggling to make it to the top of his profession.  Steve Nash, 2-time NBA MVP and all-star point guard of the Phoenix Suns is such an athlete. Steve Nash, the basketball star, became Dr. Nash Friday after being awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws degree from his hometown University of Victoria.

Uvic awarded Nash an honorary degree not only because of his achievements on the basketball court, but primarily for the outstanding work he performs for children all over the world through the Steve Nash Foundation.  The Foundation aims to foster health in kids by funding projects that provide services to children affected by poverty, illness, abuse, or neglect, and create opportunity for education, play, and empowerment. It focuses its resources on communities in Phoenix, Arizona as well as here in British Columbia.

In May 2006, Nash was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In the accompanying write-up by Charles Barkley, Nash was lauded for his unselfishness on the basketball court, and being "just a nice guy" who had paid for a new pediatric cardiology ward in a Paraguayan hospital. Nash also founded the Jim Jennings Memorial Endowment Fund, established in honor of a volunteer staff member at Santa Clara University who served the basketball team for more than 20 years.

Ironically, Steve never attended Uvic. In his senior year of high school, at St. Michael's University School, in the 1991–92 season, he led his team to the British Columbia AAA provincial championship title, and was named the province's player of the year.

Although Nash's high school coach sent letters of inquiry and highlight reels on Nash's behalf to over 30 American universities, Nash was not recruited by any of them, until Santa Clara’s head coach Dick Davey requested video footage of the young guard. After watching Nash in person, Davey said he "was nervous as heck just hoping that no one else would see him". Steve was awarded a full scholarship to Santa Clara and the rest is history.  Nice to see a local boy do well in the world! – and for many in the world, too!