As far as many basketball fans are concerned, Steve Nash's defense couldn't possibly get any worse. To those folks I say, never say never.
Playing in a pick-up game that was the most important Canadian hoops action in years, the two-time NBA MVP was crossed up and beaten baseline by teen pop idol Justin Bieber.
It's one thing to struggle keeping world class point guards like Chris Paul or Tony Parker in front of you. But, it's another thing for Bieber to make him look like a turnstile. Perhaps preoccupied with someone setting a pick to his left, Nash froze as Bieber flashed a nifty crossover move en route to the rack for a reverse layup.
It's possible, and perhaps even likely, that the 37-year-old Nash wasn't trying to show up the 17-year-old, but this won't stop Nash's critics from connecting the dots between his lackluster one-one-one defensive skills and this clip. Thankfully, Nash has plenty of fans who will rush to defend him, notably the commentariat at The Basketball Jones who are fairly certain that Bieber should have been whistled for a carry on this play.
Coming in a casual game, odds are that Nash didn't think much of the play at the time. Big mistake. Once Bieber shared this video clip with his more than 12 million followers on Twitter, it was everywhere.
http://t.co/Qn1ZB00 - hold up though...is that the REAL @SteveNash - yes...yes it is...#crossover. @ludacris we comin 4 u! #TEAMBIEBER
justinbieber
At the end of the brief clip, the camera pans beneath the basket where Bieber's girlfriend, Selena Gomez, is looking on. The 19-year-old actress squeaks with delight as her boyfriend gets his shot to drop.
That Bieber has game couldn't have come as a complete surprise to Nash as the teen heartthrob was named MVP during the NBA's celebrity game during the 2011 All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles.
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