LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Nash announced his retirement Saturday, quietly ending a 19-year NBA career that included two MVP awards.
After playing in just 65 games over the past three seasons due to injuries, the 41-year-old Canadian playmaker formalized his departure with a letter on The Players' Tribune, a website where he is a senior producer.
"I will likely never play basketball again," wrote Nash, who hasn't played at all this season. "It's bittersweet. I already miss the game deeply, but I'm also really excited to learn to do something else."
The eight-time All-Star is third in NBA history with 10,335 assists, trailing only John Stockton and Jason Kidd. Nash also is the best free-throw shooter in NBA history at 90.4 percent.
While thanking a lengthy list of former teammates and influential mentors in his letter, Nash wrote of his lifelong love for basketball and his relentless desire for improvement.
"The greatest gift has been to be completely immersed in my passion and striving for something I loved so much — visualizing a ladder, climbing up to my heroes," Nash wrote. "The obsession became my best friend."
Although his career wound down awkwardly with the Lakers, Nash will be remembered for his incredible prime with the Phoenix Suns.
The speedy, sharpshooting point guard changed the professional game and won the league MVP awards in 2005 and 2006 during a dominant stretch as the catalyst for coach Mike D'Antoni's up-tempo offense.
