Steve Nash averaged 15.5 points and 11.5 assists per game last season. Nathaniel S. Butler/Getty Images
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TORONTO -- The first time I visited Toronto was June 11, 2001. While most of my work trips over the last five years tend to blend together into a miasma of airports, rental cars and Marriotts, this one sticks out because it was on my wife's birthday. I was supposed to write a Steve Nash feature for SLAM, and that just happened to be the day he had time to hang. Nash had just finished his sixth year in the NBA, logging career highs in points, assists and minutes. A few weeks earlier, the Mavericks had been knocked out of the Western Conference semifinals by the Spurs, and after a few weeks off -- during which Nash went to Germany to visit Dirk Nowitzki and then traveled through England with his Mom -- he was in Toronto for a few days to chill.

I flew in early that morning, went straight to Steve's hotel to interview him, and I found a guy who, even at 9 in the morning, was able to intelligently discuss national socio-economic patterns and development: "I think Canada is similar to the States, but I think even more so built on immigrants. We're still allowing a lot of immigrants, and we're very tolerant and accepting of that. And not only is it very diverse, but also, I find that Canada is not very segregated. People of American culture tend to stay to themselves more, or at least in their own part of the community. While here's it's very diverse. I kind of enjoy it; I think it's very fun to celebrate that diversity. But I'm sure the States has that in many places. My experience is just that our infrastructure, in that way, is a lot different."

I spent the morning and afternoon with Nash, shooting hoops on an outdoor court, making a surprise stop at the Much Music studios, grabbing lunch. We walked all over Toronto, just me, him and a guy from Nike. Throughout the entire day, Nash was recognized on the street just once, by a kid smoking a cigarette outside Much Music. He was an NBA star, but for whatever reason -- his size, his style, his look -- he just blended in.

This past Friday, I went back to Toronto to see Nash for SLAM once again, to catch up with the guy who went from being just another point guard to MVP.

This time, Nash wasn't in town just to hang out. This was Nash's first trip back to Canada since winning the MVP, and the transformation was obvious: While Nash looked exactly the same, when he walked onto an outdoor court at the Harbourfront Community Centre early on Friday morning, he was immediately serenaded by screams, then mobbed by a group of ballers. Nike Canada had organized an All-Canada basketball camp, bringing together some the best players in the nation to the T-Dot. Nash was there to donate $100,000 worth of Nike gear to help support inner-city youth basketball development and coach a team in the All-Canada camp All-Star Game.

After making a speech to the campers, Nash faced the Canadian media and a scrum ensued, everyone jacking for quotes. A few minutes later, sitting on the floor of a deserted squash court, I mentioned to Nash his days of anonymity are over.

"It's OK, you know," he said, his voice low and scratchy. "That's part of it. I'm lucky that I'm normal sized and I don't really stand out so much. People already knew pretty much who I was, but people are so excited about the MVP. People here, in the street, are excited about it, excited that I won."

Sometimes he does stand out, like when, last week, he was immortalized on the Internet playing pick-up ball at Hudson River Park.

"Someone told me about that, a guy from GQ told me about that. I didn't even plan to play that day. I just jogged over there to shoot and they were playing, so I played for about a half-hour."

I noted that he appeared to be the tallest guy on the court.

"Yeah, you can tell I was, you know, dominating the glass."

Nash is unique in several ways. Not only did he win the MVP by playing team ball, but he's always been willing to be different, from rocking that Severus Snape haircut to wearing a "No War" t-shirt to the All-Star Game. Last season, Nash admitted he'd been reading The Communist Manifesto. (I asked Nash if applying the principles of Communism to basketball made him a better point guard. "Uh, no, I don't think so," he laughed.)

Nash picked the perfect time to have the greatest season of his life. While the NHL was on lockdown, the nation turned its lonely eyes to the skinny kid from Victoria, and he quickly became perhaps the most famous Canadian in the sports world.

Now that's he's played himself to the top, Nash says he's determined to use his fame and his name to do something positive. He has a charity game in Toronto in a few weeks, with everyone from Amare to Iverson slated to attend, but, on this day, it was all about the kids. Nash answered questions, posed for photos, huddled with 14-year-old Canadian wunderkind Junior Cadougan.

The sports world is filled with great people, nice guys who care about their communities and environments. We had plenty of chances last year to celebrate Steve Nash, the player. But it's even more fun, and worthwhile, to celebrate Steve Nash, the person.

Game Of The Week

In honor of my trip to Canada, let's visit the CBC's Web site and hit the trampoline.

Lang Whitaker is the online editor at SLAM magazine and writes daily at http://www.SLAMonline.com.