Jeremy Lin might get the starting nod for the Los Angeles Lakers in the upcoming 2014-15 NBA season if he continues to impress in training camp and in their remaining preseason games.
Veteran point guard Steve Nash is projected to start for the Lakers at this point, but the 40-year-old playmaker is continuously being bothered by various injuries, which might force him to take a backup role.
Lakers coach Byron Scott admitted that he is considering starting Lin or Ronnie Price instead of Nash because of the two-time Most Valuable Player's health issues.
"That is something I'm definitely thinking about it," Scott said via ESPN Los Angeles. "Is it in our best interest to start Jeremy or Ronnie [Price] or do we wait day by day, game by game? We'll play these last five preseason games out. We'll figure it out from there."
Nash, who is the oldest active player in the league at 40 years old, will be playing in the final year of his current three-year deal with the Lakers. Previous reports indicated that Nash will retire after next season and he wants to end his career with a bang.
Scott is convinced, though, that Nash will understand should he decide to start Lin instead of him in the upcoming season, saying that the veteran knows that each of them only wants what is best for the team.
"I have no doubt in my mind if I went to Steve tomorrow and said, 'I'm going to start Jeremy, and the games you're available we're going to bring you off the bench.' He's such a professional that I don't think it will be a problem whatsoever. He just wants to help the team win as much as he can. That's not a concern of mine," Scott said.
Lin, on the other hand, said that he knows that Nash is looking to be healthy and enjoy probably the final year of his playing career, but the 26-year-old point guard said that he will be ready once Scott picks him to start over the 18-year-veteran.
"Just talking to him, he wants to be healthy, he wants to enjoy what is probably his last year and I would want them for him as well," Lin said. "But at the end of the day, whatever position [Scott] calls me to, or whatever it is, I'm going to do my best."
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