NBA analyst Nash was inspired by Gretzky, shows off hockey skills

You can take the man out of Canada and give him a basketball but he's still going to be good at hockey.

Two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash showed off his skills on the "ice" during NBA on Prime's studio show on Saturday.

Nash, who grew up idolizing Wayne Gretzky in Victoria, British Columbia, showed off how some basketball point guard skills translate to being a playmaking forward in hockey.

Nash popularized commanding basketball games while moving under the hoop, similar to a hockey player quarterbacking a possession from behind the net.

Recently on his "Mind the Game" podcast with LeBron James, Nash, the former back-to-back NBA MVP (2005, 2006), talked about how Gretzky going behind the net changes the perspective of the defense.

On Saturday on the set of the NBA studio show, Nash demonstrated the basketball part, then the crew quickly changed the floor to "ice" and threw a hockey stick in his hands. The result was not surprising for a pro athlete who played hockey until age 12.

"On the ice? Let's do this!" Nash exclaimed.

He missed the first, forgivable when considering not only rust but also that the right-handed shooting Nash was using a left-handed curved stick, but still buried the second with help from colleague and former NBA All-Star Blake Griffin.