Other Interests
Nash and a Montreal-based partner, Leonard Schlemm, opened the first Steve Nash Sports Club in the spring of 2007 in downtown Vancouver, a high-end, $5-million, 38,500-square-foot (3,580 m2) facility that will mirror Nash's own fitness philosophy.
In 2007, Nash wrote and produced an 81-second commercial for Nike titled "Training Day", directed by Julian Schnabel's daughter Lola, which gained popularity as a viral video on YouTube. Nash also started a film production company together with his cousin, filmmaker Ezra Holland, and intends to produce independent films. The first creative effort to come from Meathawk was a 91-second commercial, titled "The Sixty Million Dollar Man", for Nike's eco-friendly Trash Talk shoe, the first high-performance shoe to be made—at the behest of the environmentally conscious Nash—from recycled materials. Nash has worn the shoe since February 2008 but Nike produced only 5,000 pairs for sale. The ad which broke virally on Earth Day 2008, was written by Nash and the directors of the spot, Danny Vaia and Ezra Holland. It is a spoof remake of the title sequence of the American television series The Six Million Dollar Man and plays on Nash’s numerous on-court collisions. Amar'e Stoudemire and Raja Bell have cameo appearances. Nash and Holland also co-directed the documentary Into the Wind, about iconic Canadian athlete and activist Terry Fox, as part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series.
For the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver, Nash became the first NBA player in Olympic history to carry the torch and light the Olympic cauldron.
Nash is also known for his outspoken political views. He was an early, public opponent of the 2003 Iraq War, wearing a custom-made t-shirt to the 2003 NBA All Star Game that stated "No war -- Shoot for peace". Although Nash did get positive support from teammate Nick Van Exel among others, he also drew criticism from David Robinson, a former Naval officer and fellow NBA player as well as commentators like Skip Bayless who criticized Nash as being uninformed and advised him to "just shut up and play". Nash has also recently been critical of Arizona's SB1070, legislation which seeks to aggressively address illegal immigration, as he felt "the law obviously can target opportunities for racial profiling."
Read more about this topic: Steve Nash, Off The Court
Famous quotes containing the word interests:
“Friendship can only exist between persons with similar interests and points of view. Man and woman by the conventions of society are born with different interests and different points of view.”
—J. August Strindberg (1849–1912)
“... there is nothing more irritating to a feminist than the average “Woman’s Page” of a newspaper, with its out-dated assumption that all women have a common trade interest in the household arts, and a common leisure interest in clothes and the doings of “high society.” Women’s interests to-day are as wide as the world.”
—Crystal Eastman (1881–1928)