OAKLAND — Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Steve Nash has joined the Golden State Warriors as a player development consultant, the reigning NBA champions confirmed Friday. Steve Kerr, who guided the Warriors to the title in his first year as an NBA coach, was general manager in Phoenix when Nash played there, and said the Canadian has the right basketball philosophy for the Warriors. “Even though he possessed incredible individual skills and abilities, Steve always played the game with a team-first mentality, which is something that we emphasize greatly within our group,” Kerr said. “We share a lot of beliefs about how the game should be played and about the work ethic that goes into being great.” In his new role, which Nash spoke about Wednesday at an appearance in Toronto, Nash will be “embedded” with the Warriors periodically throughout the season, working on-court with the team led by NBA regular season MVP Steph Curry. Nash played 19 seasons in the NBA with the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers. An eight-time NBA All-Star, he won back-to-back MVP awards while with the Suns in 2004-05 and 2005-06, becoming just the 10th player in NBA history to win the award in consecutive seasons. Bennett expected to join Raptors Former first overall draft pick Anthony Bennett is expected to sign a deal with his hometown Toronto Raptors after clearing NBA waivers Friday, American sports network ESPN reported. Bennett, who became the first Canadian to be taken No. 1 overall when he was picked by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2013 draft, could join the Raptors next week after being waived by the Minnesota Timberwolves. The 22-year-old was scheduled to make close to $6 million this season with the Timberwolves, but will have to take a substantial pay cut to play elsewhere. A team claiming Bennett off NBA waivers would have had to assume his salary, but ESPN reported he would sign with the Raptors as a free agent for $950,000. Bennett has had a disappointing start to his NBA career. He averaged just 5.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in limited playing time last season. He also missed two weeks with an ankle injury. — Agencies
