Suns coach describes Steve Nash’s impact, being ready for season
Phoenix Suns head coach Jordan Ott spoke to media about Steve Nash’s impact as a senior adviser and what he’ll be watching for in the 2025-26 season.
LOS ANGELES — Steve Nash gave Phoenix Suns first-year head coach Jordan Ott a small, but joyful piece of advice heading into the Wednesday, Oct. 22, season opener.
“He just said, ‘enjoy it,’ right there,” Ott said Oct. 21, as he and Nash were talking at the team’s practice facility prior to the coach meeting with the media.
It’s just part of Nash’s role as the team’s new senior adviser, a position previously held by former Suns general manager James Jones, who now is the NBA’s head of basketball operations.
“I’m there as a resource, to share my experiences,” Nash said Wednesday afternoon prior to the season opener. “We have a rookie coach (Ott), a rookie GM (general manager Brian Gregory). An organization that’s trying to reset. Someone that got a chance to play in the league for 17 years, got to coach in the league, I think there’s an opportunity just to be able to share my experiences, my thoughts around the game.”
Nash left his mark as a player for the Suns, winning back-to-back NBA MVPs in 2005 and ’06 and orchestrating the ‘’Seven Seconds or Less’’ Phoenix offense.
A Suns’ Ring of Honor inductee, Nash is now back with Phoenix, sharing his insight and knowledge of the game, the league and how it works with a franchise looking to return to the level it once reached during his Hall of Fame career.
“Be able to help give them a sounding board and alternative view,” Nash continued. “Sometimes the 30,000-foot view is really valuable when you’re in the weeds every day. It can come in a lot of forms. I just want to be a resource and continue to give them a place to vent, explore, ask questions, perspectives and share experiences.”
Ott is absorbing all he can from Nash. The two previously worked together for the Brooklyn Nets.
Nash was a head coach for two full seasons from 2020-22 with Ott as one of his assistants.
“Every minute you spend with him, you learn because he’s that much of a deep thinker,” Ott said about Nash. “Not only about basketball, but about how you’re feeling. How does it all feel in the gym. How are you interacting with other people. So any second or minute you’re around him, you’re definitely learning.”
Nash is also serving as an NBA on Prime analyst alongside former players Blake Griffin, Dirk Nowitzki, and Udonis Haslem. Amazon Prime is part of the 11-year, $77-billion media rights partnership with the NBA, along with ESPN and NBC.
Considering Nash had to shoulder multiple duties as a point guard and has been an NBA head coach, he’s confident he can handle his roles with the Suns and Amazon.
“I’m excited,” Nash said during the Prime media call Wednesday with Griffin, Nowitzki, Haslem and head of global live sports production, Jared Stacy.
“It’s great to be back with the organization and be a resource to everyone there. Fortunately, there’s enough time to do both jobs and to enjoy them both and to max out on both of them. Overall, I’m just really excited to be in the game and be able to watch, analyze, collaborate with great people and great minds and I get to do that at Prime and with the Suns.”
Then Nowitzki reminded Nash about a third job he has.
“Don’t forget about your podcast,” Nowitzki said.
LeBron James and Nash collaborated on a podcast, Mind The Game, with former Suns superstar Kevin Durant being a guest on an episode.
“Good point, Dirk,” Nash responded. “Can we plug that here from the top, Dirk? Let us know what you think.”
Nash and Nowitzki were All-Star teammates with the Dallas Mavericks before Nash returned to the Suns, the franchise that drafted him out of Santa Clara in 1996.
“My back is already sore having to carry him (pause) again,” Nash said with his dry sense of humor. “That’s just part of the game. Somebody has got to do the dirty work.”
NBA on Prime tips off its coverage with a doubleheader on Oct. 24, as the Boston Celtics face the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden and the Minnesota Timberwolves take on the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena.
Coverage begins at 4 p.m. MST, with the NBA on Prime pregame show, live from Amazon Studios in Culver City, California.
“I think there’s a lot of different people that love basketball, want to watch basketball,” Nash said. “Maybe you’ve seen the game evolve so quickly that it would be helpful for them to get an understanding of why the game’s played the way it is, how the rules are different, how the analytics continually change, how defenses are trying to catch up to offenses and vice versa.
“And I think it makes for an opportunity for us to kind of share what’s so beautiful about our game and how skillful and intelligent the game’s become as far as trying to adapt quickly on the fly.”
Nash has been a constant at the Suns’ practice facility as he lives in Phoenix.
“He’s been around a lot, felt what the camp has felt like,” Ott said. “He feels the energy of it all.”
Ott served as an assistant under Nash from 2020-22 before joining the Lakers coaching staff under Darvin Ham for the 2022-23. The Nets parted ways with Nash after Brooklyn started 2-5 that 2022-23 season.
“I didn’t know him before he came to Brooklyn, at all,” said Ott, who was a Nets assistant under Kenny Atkinson and Jacque Vaughn prior to Nash becoming head coach.
“It was post-bubble (in 2020). So, it was really hard to meet or interact at that time in New York City. He took a chance on me by keeping me on the staff. It’s always the human with him. He’s incredibly humble, very thoughtful as a head coach, and now I get to see him as a friend or as a mentor, really trying to help us, help me, as we navigate through this season.”
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
Support local journalism. Start your online subscription.
