Former Man Utd star reveals he grew up wanting to be a basketball player

AHEAD of tomorrow's game at The O2 arena, former England footballer Owen Hargreaves has spoken of his connection to NBA legend Steve Nash, admitting he grew up wanting to be a basketball player.

 

Owen Hargreaves now spends a lot of time in punditry

 

Hargreaves was born in Canada and played for Bayern Munich in Germany before moving to Manchester United and finishing his injury-hit career at rivals Manchester City. Canadian Nash was similarly forced into retirement by injury after a 20-year career with Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and LA Lakers.

Hargreaves said: "Before going to Bayern Munich I played more basketball than football. I would play football probably twice a week, but I'd play basketball every day after school with my high school team.

 

"Football was in my genes, my dad played, my older brother played and as a young guy you want to be like your dad and your brother. And I think Steve [Nash] is the same. He wanted to play football.

"His brother played for the Canadian national team, so were kind of the opposite. He wanted to play football and I wanted to play basketball. This is probably why we connected."

Tonight's match, the sixth regular-season game to be played in England, will have special significance for Hargreaves because the NBA's only Canadian team, Toronto Raptors, will be taking on Orlando Magic.

 

Hargreaves was a great admirer of Steve Nash who retired from basketball in 2015

"A friend of mine works for the Raptors and I was born in Canada," he said.

"But I'm a big fan of sports, I like to see the best doing their things, and there are a lot of great players in the Magic as well. They¹ve got a lot of talented guys. I'm sure it'll be an entertaining game.

"I love basketball so to see the game live here is great because, if you think about it, I can't see Liverpool or Man United or Arsenal play a home [Premier League] game in New Jersey, but the NBA is trying to make the game more global. So I think it's great for these fans to see the best of the best play basketball in London."

 

Hargreaves in action for Manchester United in 2010