Los Angeles Lakers Steve Nash To Be On A Minutes Restriction?

While both Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol appear to be recovering well from their injuries, Los Angeles Lakers point guard Steve Nash is having more of a difficult time.

Dealing with nerve pain along with a fibular fracture, Steve Nash, although still effective, may be in for a heavy decline in minutes this season if the Lakers want to keep the talented point guard healthy. That’s something they and head trainer Gary Vitti are aware of as Vitti pointed out in his “The Trainers Take” piece on Lakers.com.

Per Mike Trudell:

"But I think he’s going to come back in great shape, and then it’s all about how he’s used. You don’t want to beat him up in practice. Save it for the game, figure out the appropriate minutes that put him in a successful situation. The example I use is Robert Horry, where we played him a lot of minutes, and it was difficult for him to recover and be productive at his age. But he goes to San Antonio, plays 18 minutes a game, and the guy was an unbelievable force off the bench for them. I think if we figure out how best to use Steve, he can be the same way."

In the games Nash did play last season, they were hefty minutes and it clearly showed so a reduction near a 20 minute mark might be best for all parties involved.