Steve Nash reflects on former Suns teammate Jason Kidd's influence

From teammates to opponents on the court and the sideline, the paths of Steve Nash and Jason Kidd intersected once more Tuesday when the Nets and Mavericks faced off at American Airlines Arena in Dallas.

Before the game, Nash -- a second-year NBA head coach via Brooklyn -- reflected on his past with Kidd, who is in his first season leading the Mavs.

"We got some time together around the Hall of Fame, being inducted together," said Nash, who was a 2018 inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame alongside Kidd and others. "But like you said, we go back. We go back, playing against each other in college. When he went to the NBA, getting a chance to work out with him when I was still in college and then, obviously, he got traded to the Suns my rookie year, so played together for a period of time and then just always had a good relationship and really enjoyed all the times we did get together."

As Nash alluded to, he overlapped with Kidd his rookie year with the Suns during the 1996-97 season. Evidently, some of what Nash learned stemmed from Kidd.

"Well, it was a great learning opportunity for me," Nash said. "He was advanced. For a young point guard like me -- I think he's only a year older than me, but he's physically more mature. ... He had been kind of the guy since he (was on) a young team. So to have the mentality, that responsibility -- at a young age, he was more advanced than I was, as far as his mentality and all those things. So to watch him up close and to see the competitive nature and spirit and just all the things he brought to the table outside of points and assists and rebounds was really important to my development."

Nash (1996-2014) and Kidd (1994-2013), respectively, starred as players -- including Kidd's tenure with the Nets (2001-07). While Kidd has been a head coach before, including the Nets (2013-14) and Milwaukee Bucks (2014-18), the two never thought about a future like this.

"We never really talked about coaching," Nash said. "I think we had so many common experiences as players that, whenever we talk, it's really about the good-old days, in a sense, and all our people we have in common and all that stuff. So we never had the time to really speak about coaching, but it'd be fascinating to hear his experience some day."