Anytime he needed an encouraging word or an attentive ear, Syracuse guard Tyler Ennis reached out to Lakers guard Steve Nash.
That relationship stems from Nash serving as the general manager of the Canadian’s national basketball team. Ennis, who grew up Ontario, leaned on first-hand experience to express confidence Nash will successfully heal nerve issues in his back that kept him out last season for all but 15 games.
“I know he’s working hard,” Ennis said. “I know he’s not going to give up until he can’t go anywhere. That’s all you can ask for. If he’s out there, you’re going to have one of the best point guards that ever played.”
Incidentally, Nash was at the Lakers’ practice facility on Wednesday to watch some of the pre-draft workouts. There, Nash and Ennis caught up, but the conversation had nothing to do with Nash’s recovery or the even the Lakers.
“It was more about him mentoring me in college and helping me transition to the NBA workouts,” Ennis said. “In college, he talked to me a lot. He would watch my games and see things I could improve on and tell me about it. He would talk about sticking to my routine, working out and getting my body right.”
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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com