Nash named GM of men's team RYAN WOLSTAT, QMI Agency TORONTO - Steve Nash has been named general manager of Canada's senior men's basketball program. The two-time NBA MVP's initial aim will be to return Canada to the Olympic fold in Brazil in 2016 for the first time since he led a stirring run in Sydney back in 2000. “With the talent we are developing in this country, Canada has an opportunity to become one of the top basketball nations in the world,” Nash said at a media conference at the Air Canada Centre. “There is no reason why, if we nurture and support these great young players and give them the tools they need, that we can't be a medal contender at the Olympics.” Nash said it was the plethora of emerging talent that convinced him to take the reins now, even though his professional playing career is still on-going. He had been interacting with some of the prospects extensively via Twitter over the past year. Friend and former teammate Rowan Barrett becomes assistant general manager and executive vice president and will be tasked with much of the heavy lifting while Nash tends to his NBA duties. Canada Basketball president and CEO Wayne Parrish said he had been in talks with Nash since September. Parrish told the Toronto Sun in November: "I would love to have him involved in this program in whatever way makes sense to him at whatever point makes sense to him. It would be a very significant step forward for the entire program.”