MVN - Most Valuable Network

NBA’s Steve Nash on business trip with MLS Commissioner

Steve Nash, the 2005 and 2006 NBA Most Valuable Player, accompanied the Major League Soccer commissioner this week on a trip to Montreal to discuss future MLS possibilities there.  Nash, of the Phoenix Suns, is a native Canadian who comes from a soccer-entrenched family.  He has used soccer extensively in his training (as he did in his upbringing), and has incorporated it in many of his videos and TV commercials.

Steve’s brother Martin plays club soccer professionally has played with the Canadian National Team.  Jeff Mallett, the former Yahoo! CEO also on this trip, also played in Canada with the youth national team programs.

Both Steve Nash and Jeff Mallett are major investors in the new Women’s Professional Soccer league, which makes its debut next spring.

Here, you can read some of what Commissioner Garber said about this trip in his blog yesterday (Friday, May 23),

“I attended the Montreal Impact’s inaugural match on Monday at Saputo Stadium and came away very impressed with the venue and the warm hospitality we received from the Mayor of the city, supporters, journalists, etc. during our visit. The owners of the Impact, the Saputo family, have been involved with soccer for many years. They run a first-class organization and we look forward to continuing our discussions regarding potential expansion into Montreal.”

“Also joining me on the trip to Montreal was Phoenix Suns star Steve Nash, former Yahoo! President and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Mallett and MLS President Mark Abbott. Steve, who comes from a soccer family (his brother plays for the Whitecaps), and Jeff, who was part of Canada’s National and Olympic soccer team programs as a teenager, are investors in Women’s Professional Soccer and could be part of an ownership group for future MLS expansion into Canada. Steve is a world-class basketball player who truly loves soccer. I’ve been told that he plays on a number of amateur clubs during the offseason and has plans to co-host a charity soccer event with Claudio Reyna later this summer.”

Steve Nash, based on all that he’s done in the past with Major League Soccer, looks to be one of the most recognizable names at the forefront of the development of MLS for the foreseeable future…for the remainder of his playing career…and beyond.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 24th, 2008 at 4:07 pm and is filed under Soccer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.