Most people know Kevin Nash as a wrestling superstar, a hulking 6-foot-10 monster who was just as likely to cut an opponent down on the mic as he was to powerbomb him through the mat. Now 65 years old, Nash has had one of the most decorated careers in wrestling history, but before he ever thought about stepping foot in the ring, he was using his size and talent on the basketball court.
Advertisement
Nash was a top basketball recruit coming out of high school, and he ended up playing for three years at the University of Tennessee. He never found his footing with the Volunteers though, as he averaged just 5.1 points and 4.2 rebounds in his career.
The Master Blaster foreshadowed his future during his time in Knoxville when he punched a Kentucky player during a loss at Rupp Arena. Afterward, he clashed with head coach Don DeVoe too.
As Nash told Grantland in 2012, “We go back to the locker room and DeVoe kept saying, ‘Hey, hothead, you cost us the game.’ He grabbed my jersey and tried to spin me around. He kept running his mouth so I bitch-smacked him. I bear-pawed him.”
For a basketball player, putting your hands on a coach is the ultimate no-no. The first thing people still think of when they hear the name Latrell Sprewell is when he choked P.J. Carlesimo. The “bear-paw” was the beginning of the end of Nash’s time at Tennessee, but it gave a glimpse into what would end up being his future career.
Nash left Tennessee to play professionally in Germany, but a torn ACL cut his career short. He then served two years in the Army before falling into the wrestling world.
Before he was the king of the ring, Kevin Nash played with actual basketball royalty
Professional wrestling is hell on the body. Nash dealt with many injuries throughout his career, and in 2017, he underwent knee replacement surgery. He received a message of encouragement from none other than Magic Johnson during his recovery. Nash shared the video on Instagram while reminiscing about their time playing together.
Nash said that he and Magic attended the University of Michigan basketball camp together in the summer of 1976. Even at 15 years old, Nash described Magic as “the best player in Michigan,” and the two even ended up playing together in an exhibition against the Russian junior national team, a game in which Magic dropped 40 points and wowed everyone with his court vision.
Nash confirmed two things that everyone knows about Magic: that he’s someone who always made his teammates better (“He raised my basketball IQ in a week”), and that he’s a genuinely great guy, as he reached out to his old teammate after four decades to give him some encouragement.
We’ve seen the worlds of basketball and wrestling collide (is anyone else old enough to remember Dennis Rodman and Karl Malone going at it?), but nothing beats this crossover between Big Daddy Cool and Magic.
