Olympic Legends - Steve Nash

SYDNEY (Olympics) - Steve Nash is held in such high esteem in Canada that the NBA great was asked to light the Olympic cauldron in 2010.

It was quite an honor for the veteran Phoenix Suns point guard because he wasn't going to dribble, pass or shoot at those Games.

They were the Winter Olympics.

Yet they were being staged in his native British Columbia and even in hockey-mad Canada, there is so much respect for Nash that the two-time NBA MVP was the perfect man to take center stage.

In doing so, Nash became the first NBA player to light an Olympic cauldron.

Nash has played at an Olympics before.

He was the Canadians' floor general at the Sydney Games in 2000, and that team was very, very good.

They began with victories against hosts Australia, Angola and Spain before falling to Russia, 77-59.

Canada then beat 1998 world champions Yugoslavia with Nash pouring in 26 points, dishing out eight assists and corralling eight rebounds.

It was an exquisite performance by Nash and one of the best at those Olympics.

In their Quarter-Final against France, however, Canada fell 68-63.

It was one of the biggest disappointments of Nash’s career because the loss prevented him from having a chance to reach the podium.

Nash had 10 points and eight assists but was just four of 12 from the field and he also committed nine turnovers in that defeat.

In 2003 at the FIBA Americas Championship in San Juan, a 29-year-old Nash tried to lead Canada into the Athens Games but hosts Puerto Rico denied them in a do-or-die bronze-medal game, winning 79-66.

It was the last time Nash represented Canada in international competition.

FIBA