D’Antoni: Doubtful Nash plays again this season

Is Steve Nash close to being done in his NBA career? (USATSI)

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Steve Nash's career with the Los Angeles Lakers hasn't exactly worked out. With various leg and back injuries slowing him down, he's hardly been on the court for the Lakers the past two seasons and we haven't seen anything close to the point guard we admired in Phoenix. His most recent injury is nerve irritation of the area of his leg he fracture early in the 2012-13 season. All of his maladies will probably keep him out for the rest of this season.

Coach Mike D'Antoni told the media on Monday that while he wouldn't rule out Nash returning this season, he doubts he'll play again in 2013-14. With the Lakers no longer looking to be anything but a lottery team this season, there probably isn't a reason for him to risk further injury anyway.

Mike D'Antoni says he "doubts" Steve Nash plays again this season, but wouldn't rule him out

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) March 3, 2014

Nash has only played in 10 of the team's 59 games this season and with this campaign already meaningless, there's no point in him doing anything other than getting ready for the 2014-15 season. That will be the last year of his contract, where he can either help the Lakers try to get back to the playoffs or be an expiring contract used in a trade to acquire another significant player for the Lakers.

In his 10 games this year, he's averaging just 7.6 points and 4.7 assists in 22.5 minutes. If the nerve irritation is significant enough to keep him from coming back this season, is there any chance it keeps him from playing next season as well? If it doesn't improve and he can't feel confident in his health heading into next season, it's possible we've seen the end of Nash's career already.

Topics: Steve Nash, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA

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Report: Jason Collins to receive second 10-day contract from Brooklyn Nets

The Brooklyn Nets already made history.

Now they’re going to make a roster move.

The Nets signed Jason Collins to a 10-day contract, making him the first openly gay athlete to play in a major North American team sport. That contract expires Tuesday, so Brooklyn will reportedly give him another deal.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:

The Brooklyn Nets will sign center Jason Collins to a second consecutive 10-day contract, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

The Nets have gone 3-1 with Collins, so they’re probably not looking for reasons to dump him. When teams win, they often want to keep everything – even the unhelpful elements – in tact.

In 34 total minutes, Collins has three points, four rebounds, three steals, four turnovers and 10 fouls – hardly great box-score production. But box-score stats have never reflected Collins’ true value. More troubling, Brooklyn’s defensive rating is 118.2 with him on the court.

Small-sample caveats apply, but the Nets will have an interesting decision when this second 10-day contract expires. At that point, the Nets can sign Collins for the rest of the season or not at all. Sometimes, teams defer that choice and sign other players to 10-day contracts before choosing one for the rest of the season. That could happen with Brooklyn and Collins.

I think the Nets, as previously reported, plan to keep Collins through the end of the season. But this second 10-day contract will give them a little longer to determine whether they want to stick to that plan.