Is the end of the road approaching for Canadas greatest basketball player? According to veteran basketball columnist Peter Vecsey, Lakers guard Steve Nash is close to retirement. The former New York Post columnist and NBA TV analyst tweeted out the following statement early Tuesday morning: "Im hearing Nashs pain is forcing him 2 seriously consider calling it a career. Hed still get $ this yr & next & LAd get cap relief next." The 39-year-old Nash is sidelined indefinitely with a back injury and has been limited to just six games so far in the 2013-14 NBA season, averaging just 22.5 minutes-per-game. Lakers head coach Mike DAntoni spoke out last week about rumours of Nashs retirement, trying to temper the situation to the Los Angeles Times. "Theres always going to be a debate but were not going to debate it, talk about it," DAntoni told the Times last Tuesday. "Hes going to try to get ready, hes going to try to play and were going to try to win. Its really simple for us. Its not real difficult." Still, Nashs time in Los Angeles has not been up to the lofty standards he set during his MVP years with the Phoenix Suns, as the Victoria Native appeared in just 50 games for the Lakers in 2012-13 posting a 12.7 points-per-game average (his second-lowest total since 1999-2000) and 6.7 assists per game (his lowest total over that span). Nash has three years remaining on his contract including the current NBA season, worth a total of just over $28.3 million. Winning back-to-back MVP Awards in 2004-05 and 2005-06, Nash has put together a Hall of Fame-worthy career. He is a veteran of 18 NBA seasons with the Lakers, Suns and Dallas Mavericks and has been selected to 8 NBA All-Star Games, averaging 14.3 PPG, 8.5 APG with a career free throw percentage of 90.4 per cent. Scarpe Nmd Italia . -- Jerry Rice Jr. Adidas Nmd Ingrosso .S. -- Carl-Antoine Delisle snapped a tie in the third period with his second goal of the game to lead the Tigres past Cape Breton 4-3 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Wednesday as Victoriaville won its eighth in a row. http://www.scarpenmdscontate.it/scarpe-stan-smith-outlet.html . According to a report from ESPN, the veteran safety has signed another one-year deal with the team Raiders, the team that drafted him, and who he returned to last year after a long stint with the Green Bay Packers. Scarpe Adidas Nmd Uomo Italia . -- Phil Hughes ended a personal losing streak that dated to last July, pitching into the seventh inning Sunday and helping the Twins top the Kansas City Royals 8-3 to avoid a three-game sweep. Scarpe Stan Smith Ingrosso . Jacobs scored two in the first end, but Jahr briefly took charge with two in the second end and two more in the third. Jacobs, from Sault. Marie, Ont., gave Canada some breathing room, following his big fourth end by adding two more points in the fifth to go up 7-4.GOLD COAST, Australia -- Michael Phelps got a reminder of just how challenging his return to international competition may be when he was asked whether he was good enough to even reach a final at the Pan Pacific Championships this week. "Wow, youre really setting the bar high for me!" the most decorated swimmer of all time joked in reply. Sitting beside him at a news conference Wednesday, Phelps long-time coach Bob Bowman chipped in: "Reality check there." The Pan Pacs start Thursday and run through the weekend. Its stage two of Phelps comeback from retirement -- the first was qualifying for the U.S. team. Now Bowman is predicting Phelps will lower his best times in his butterfly, medley and freestyle, saying the challenge of going faster was the only reason the 18-time Olympic champion came back to the sport. Phelps qualified by finishing second in the 200-meter medley and the 100 butterfly at the U.S. nationals, and will be swimming in his first international meet since coming out of retirement four months ago with the aim of competing again at the world titles and Olympics. Only the top two swimmers from each country qualify for the finals, so Phelps is going to be under pressure from his American teammates in the morning preliminaries, and from the best swimmers from Australia, Japan, Canada, Brazil and other Pacific countries in the evening finals. Hell start with the 100 freestyle on Friday, which will feature seven Americans in the heats. Hell also contest the 100 butterfly, the 200 medley and potentially some relays. Phelps didnt win any of his four events at the U.S. nationals, although his times in the 200 IM and the butterfly were both among the fastest three in the world this year. He was unhappy with his freestyle, where his finish let him down. He said it was the kind of mistake an 11-year-old would make. Phelps, who won eight of his 18 Olympic gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, said he was "kind of rusty on judging the speed going into my walls," and described his turns as "awful." "Those were the big things that I guess I forgot how to do," he said. "Not winning, it is what it is -- I hate to lose -- but I always do understand its not going to come back instaantly.dddddddddddd "I would rather have those instances now than farther down the road. World championships is next year ... Olympics the year after that. Hopefully Ill be able to fix the things now." The U.S. team had a setback ahead of the competition, with Olympic and world champion Missy Franklin in doubt after hurting her back in training. Team USA spokesman Scott Leightman said Franklin had back spasms during practice Tuesday. The 19-year-old Franklin was resting at the team hotel after medical staff controlled the spasms and issued a statement later Wednesday saying she was feeling better with every hour and still hopeful of competing. Leightman said Franklin, who won both the 100- and 200-meter backstroke at the 2012 Olympics and claimed six golds at the world championships last year, would be re-evaluated before the preliminaries of the 100 backstroke and 200 freestyle on Thursday. The Australian team is primed for a big performance at home after a winning the swimming competition at the recent Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. The competition will be held outdoors at the Gold Coast Aquatic Center, site of the 2018 Commonwealth Games swimming, and rain forecast for later in the week is giving swimmers something extra to think about. Phelps said it would be a novel experience for him. His friend and long-time rival, Ryan Lochte, said he grew up in Florida and was used to competing in rain. "You have to prepare yourself for the worst-case scenario. The coaches told us about the weather conditions -- were all prepared for it," he said. Lochte and Phelps have long dominated the 200 IM, but arent even seeded No. 1 at the Pan Pacs. Japans Kosuke Hagino has the fastest time of the year and his teammate Diaya Seto is also a contender. "Its no longer just me and Michael. Its definitely become a bigger event, and bigger race," Lochte said. If Franklin is ruled out, more attention on the U.S. womens team will centre on 17-year-old Katie Ledecky, who broke the 400 freestyle world record at the nationals and now holds world marks in the 400, 800 and 1,500. "I can improve. I got some good work in after nationals. Im really excited to see what I can do here," Ledecky said. ' ' '