An Inside Look At The Investment Portfolio Of The NBA's Newest Head Coach

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Friends,

The Brooklyn Nets shocked the basketball world yesterday, naming retired NBA legend Steve Nash their next head coach.

From a basketball standpoint, Steve Nash is one of the 50 best NBA players of all time.

Don’t argue with me on that, it’s true.

Here is a list of NBA players that have won back to back MVP awards:

• Bill Russell

• Wilt Chamberlain

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

• Moses Malone

• Larry Bird

• Magic Johnson

• Michael Jordan

• Tim Duncan

• Lebron James

• Stephen Curry

And last but not least, Steve Nash.

Still don’t believe me? Take a look for yourself.

Now that we’re on the same page regarding Steve Nash’s place in basketball history, today we’ll take a look at what he has built-off-the-court.

Steve Nash played in the NBA for 18 years, earning over $144M in the process. When it comes to his investment portfolio, it’s as confusing as it is impressive.

For instance, Nash started his own hybrid venture capital & advertising agency, owns a film production company, and even has equity in multiple professional sports teams.

(Image: theScore)

Similar to other professional athletes, Steve Nash maximized his career earnings by parlaying his basketball talent and unique personality into lucrative endorsement deals with companies like Nike, Vitamin Water, Dove Men, and Raymond Weil watches (Source).

The difference? Steve Nash did it his way.

When it came to endorsements, Steve Nash was notorious for sticking to one simple principle. If Nash didn’t love the product, or the brand didn’t have a consistent track record of being socially responsible, he wouldn’t get involved. It sounds simple, and a lot of athletes say the same today, but no matter how much money was offered — Nash consistently stuck to his principles (Source).

Once a solid brand with a socially responsible background was picked, the creativity didn’t stop there.

In 2007 Steve Nash, along with his cousin Ezra Holland, founded Meathawk Productions — a film production company focused on unique story telling through advertisements and short films. Although the company also worked on outside projects, Nash would often use Meathawk Productions to integrate his cinematic passions within endorsement deals. For example, Nash has personally scripted and directed his own commercials for both Nike and Vitamin Water, and works with ESPN regularly on production of their independent film series “30 for 30”.

Here’s a great quote from former Vitamin Water CMO Rohan Oza, regarding what made Nash a different type of athlete endorser (Source).

Film production aside, Steve Nash also owns Nash Sports Clubs and social media company Apoko, which helps athletes and celebrities connect with their fans through social channels (Source).

Given the majority of Nash’s endorsement deals typically include an equity component, it’s near impossible to go through all of his investments in one email. Instead, let’s take a look at how Nash has turned a few of his biggest passions into legitimate business success.

Soccer

Although Steve Nash went professional in basketball, he had similar opportunities in soccer. Both Nash’s dad and brother played professional soccer, and Steve, a good youth player in his own right, had an opportunity to move to England to pursue the passion full-time as a teenager. Steve declined due to the rising popularity of basketball, but hasn’t let his love for soccer escape him.

Steve Nash is a member of the MLS Vancouver Whitecaps ownership group, and assisted in the origination of the team in Vancouver. Although he watches most games, and occasionally practices with the team, his day-to-day involvement in the franchise is minimal. That doesn’t mean the investment hasn’t worked out though. Just last year, the average MLS franchise valuation increased over 30%. When it comes to Vanoucer, the Whitecaps are currently valued at $215M (Source).

(Image: Vancouver Whitecaps)

As if equity ownership in one of the fastest growing US professional sports leagues wasn’t enough, Steve Nash has continued to expand his passion for soccer.

Steve Nash, Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver, and Suns vice chairman Andy Kohlberg bought a $21M share of Spanish second division club Real Mallorca in 2016. Real Mallorca played in La Liga for 16 straight seasons before being relegated and declaring bankruptcy in 2010, allowing the Suns-based ownership group to invest on the cheap (Source).

Outside of ownership, Nash is a lifelong Tottenham fan and has called the potential for equity ownership in the club a “dream” of his.

Venture Capital & Advertising Agency

Although it might not his biggest investment, Steve Nash started a venture capital based advertising agency in 2010 and it’s a great story.

It goes like this - Nash has always been interested in the marketing and advertising business. In an effort to expand on that interest, Nash did an unpaid internship at advertising agency Deutsch for three months during the NBA offseason of 2008. Through the unpaid internship, Nash got close with Deutsch executive Michael Duda, who helped teach him the ropes.

Nash and Duda stayed in touch, helping with each others respective charity events the next two years. As their friendship grew, the two partnered up to launch “Consigliere” in 2010. Now named “Bullish”, the company is a hybrid venture capital fund and marketing agency. Bullish works on a pay-for-performance advertising compensation model and has invested in some of the hottest startups of the last decade, including Warby Parker, Peloton, Harry’s and Casper (Source).

The extent of Steve Nash’s day-to-day involvement with Bullish is unclear, but you have to respect an NBA MVP spending his offseason as an unpaid intern.

Charity Work

In 2001, Steve Nash and his family formed the Steve Nash Foundation - which is “dedicated to assisting underserved children in their health, personal development, education and enjoyment of life.”

Nash’s charity work originally focused on helping children in Phoenix, Arizona and British Columbia, Canada, but has since expanded to projects all over the world.

His most popular fundraiser, “Showdown”, is a yearly charitable soccer match in NYC which commonly features some of the most famous soccer and basketball players in the world. Although this years event was postponed due to COVID-19, the Showdown has run for 12 years straight and raised millions of dollars for children all over the world.

Here’s a fun video of 6’8” NBA player Bismack Biyombo scoring a goal at Steve Nash’s charity soccer game in 2016.

Business and charitable success aside, it’s still to be determined how good of an NBA coach Steve Nash will be — but I certainly wouldn’t bet against someone with such a unique background and humble willingness to learn.

Furthermore, Nash’s ability to excel as a communicator was a key factor is his hiring and should play a pivotal role in the success of the team with superstar players Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

PSA - Monday is Labor Day, so enjoy the long weekend and we’ll talk Tuesday.

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Extra Credit

We’re keeping it simple with today’s extra credit - Here are 5 interesting facts about Steve Nash you might not already know.

1. Steve Nash’s Canadian background is often referenced, but he was actually born in Johannesburg, South Africa. His family moved to Saskatchewan when he was 18 months old, before settling in Victoria, B.C.

2. RJ Barrett, the 3rd overall pick of the 2019 NBA Draft, is Steve Nash’s godson.

3. Percentage wise, Steve Nash was a better 3-pt shorter than Ray Allen.

4. Steve Nash is the first Canadian basketball player to ever win an NBA MVP trophy.

5. Since retiring in 2015, Steve Nash has worked as a part-time player development consultant for the Golden State Warriors. Through his time with the Warriors, Nash spent plenty of time with his new superstar player Kevin Durant.

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