<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Steve Nash was back at America West Arena on Thursday, fresh off a summer in which he married his longtime love, tanned in Tahiti, was splashed across the Internet for 10 minutes of pickup hoops in New York City, spent quality time with his twin baby girls and squeezed in work as the Suns' lead free-agent recruiter. The last one did not go as well as he had hoped. Nash hit half his shots last season but was only 1 for 3 in trying to convince friends to join him in the backcourt. Raja Bell signed on. Joe Johnson left. Michael Finley declined. When Nash won the Most Valuable Player award for the 2004-05 season, he credited his teammates and asked them to join him on the acceptance stage. Only four of them are left after a summer shake-up rearranged the supporting cast for Nash and the team's other two All-Stars, Amar? Stoudemire and Shawn Marion. "We got a lot of great character guys and some great players that bring a lot of experience and toughness," Nash said. "Those things go a long way. If you're going to lose Joe Johnson, you can only make so much happen. We did about as well as we could do, minus the Finley deal. We're ready to make it work. I'm really excited. I'm happy with the moves we made." Nash's summer work started out well when Bell, a former teammate in Dallas, committed to the Suns on the first day of contact for free agents. It was largely out of respect for Nash. "I'm very excited about that," Nash said. "He's a great player, a great teammate and a great guy." But in talking to Johnson, Nash realized that Johnson's expected return to Phoenix as a restricted free agent could go awry. Johnson's desire to leave came to a head at Nash's charity game in Toronto on July 29, when he went public with his unhappiness and a request for Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver to not match Atlanta's $69.8 million, five-year offer. "I talked to him before that, too, and his heart wasn't into coming back," Nash said. "He listened to what I had to say, and he understood what I had to say. He didn't rebuke or rebut my points, but he just wanted to go and try this. "Obviously, I'm going to miss Joe a lot. He wanted to try something else. What can you say? You wish him the best."</div> Source
yaa, so long joe, ur getting ur wish, good luck with it now. even tho i think every1 knows what the season holds for joe next year except him. but HAVE FUN!
I honestly thought JJ was better than this... He will probably end up being one of those over-paid players btw check this site out lol..hilarious: http://thebrushback.com/hawks_full.htm
