Steve Nash was back in the motherland Tuesday and other than Edmonton – where superstar Sidney Crosby visited for the first time – all of Canada was talking about his decision to bypass the national team and its Olympic aspirations to focus his time and energy on winning an NBA title in Phoenix. Fans screamed that “Captain Canada” was letting his country down.

 Fellow Arizona squatter Wayne Gretzky, they argued, played for Canada until he was approaching 40.  And when he hung up his skates, he selected and ran the national team. So why doesn’t Nash do the same? It’s a silly comparison:

*Gretzky was a complimentary player in his last few international competitions. He was window dressing on teams that boasted Mario Lemieux, Joe Sakic, Joe Thornton and a dozen other stars. But Nash isn’t only the most popular and best basketball player from Canada… he’s just about it, folks. Gretzky played on a team that could have won with or without him. Nash would be playing for a team that couldn’t win, with or without him.

 *The Winter Olympics came in the middle of the NHL, when the league shuts down for three weeks and the players are in prime shape. For NBA players, the summer games come right in the middle of the off-season, forcing conscientious starts like Nash to train year-around and risk injury, fatigue and burn-out in the process.

 Nash has put Canada on the basketball map. He played internationally. He played in the Olympics. He raises millions of dollars for charities in Canada, opened gyms in Vancouver and has been an impeccable ambassador.

 Let his country down? If only everyone was so neglectful.

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