Basketball is more than just a sport, it’s a family. The same can be said for Steven Nash and RJ Barrett. That’s right. The NBA legend is the godfather of the Toronto Raptors star — and has been ever since he was born. How did this strange relationship come to be? The story might surprise you.
Advertisement
Steve Nash was good friends with RJ’s father, Rowan Barrett
Aside from his ties to the NBA, Steve Nash was a prominent figure in the Canadian basketball scene. In 2000, he joined Team Canada for the basketball tournament at the Sydney Olympics, which is where he met and played alongside Rowan Barrett, RJ Barrett’s father. While Canada ended up being eliminated from contention early, Nash and Rowan formed a strong bond.
The two grew so close that Rowan asked the two-time NBA MVP (2005, 2006) to be RJ’s godfather shortly after he was born on June 14th, 2000. Nash happily accepted the role — and has remained a basketball mentor to RJ from his time at Duke to his jump to the NBA in 2019.
Nash has not been afraid to show RJ some tough love
Steven Nash may hold his relationship with the Barrett family close to his heart, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to go soft on them on the court. In 2022, Nash coached the Brooklyn Nets to a regular season victory over RJ and the New York Knicks — and his aggressive defense plan against RJ was a big reason why.
“I think it’s really important to make him earn it. I can’t give him any freebies as his godfather. He’s got to earn it. I gotta give him some tough love and toughen him up,” said Nash to the New York Post after the game at that time.
However, it wasn’t all “tough love” as Nash called it. In the same interview, he praised his godson for improving greatly and predicted that he would be a special player in the league for years to come.
“He’s obviously improving and playing great basketball. He’s just got a great mentality and a great work ethic. And I think that’s what’s going to make him a special player in this league for a long time.”
Barrett has been very vocal about the positive effect Nash has had on his career. “Stay the course,” was the advice RJ received from Nash according to the former.
“I remember watching him play in the playoffs; they were playing against the Lakers. And, man, from that day forward, definitely I was like, ‘I really want to be here. This is how I want to play.’ And just [Nash] encouraging me growing up was great.”
Nash did defeat his godson on the court, but his tenure as the head coach for the Nets didn’t last too much longer. He was fired after the 2022 season and hasn’t returned since. Meanwhile, RJ now plays for the Raptors, who hold a 17-38 record for the 2024-2025 season and are a far cry from a playoff contender.
