Steve Nash

Book excerpt: From the authors of the national bestseller Leafs AbomiNation, the story behind the success of one of Canada's greatest athletes, NBA all-star Steve Nash. A small man in a big man's game, a white man in a game dominated by black men, a rare Canadian in a US-based industry, the unlikely rise of Steve Nash, from Victoria high school to Hollywood hardwood, is compelling proof that great things await those who refuse to accept less of themselves. Nearly 2 decades into a Hall of Fame-bound career, Nash is a 2-time MVP, an 8-time all-star and wearer of one of the league's top-selling jerseys. And no one but Nash saw it coming. With the combination of wit and comprehensive reporting that distinguished Leafs AbomiNation, Feschuk and Grange tell the extraordinary story of drive, confidence, commitment and learning to do without that post-game beer that turned a Canadian's improbable NBA dream into the stuff of sporting legend. They convincingly bust a host of oft-repeated myths. That Nash is an inferior athlete is one: he might be one of the best athletes in the world, when factors like coordination, vision, balance and work ethic are given weight alongside size, speed and power. The myth that he overcame his upbringing in Canada to make it in the NBA is another: Growing up in Victoria, B.C., in the mid-1980s was more likely why he turned into the player he did. Revealing, playful and a perfect read for any sports fan, Steve Nash is the inspiring story of the consummate athletic outlier.