On his way to NBA superstardom, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had to go through an unconventional route. He didn’t speed through the freeway. Instead, he took a couple of right turns and a few left turns on bumpy backroads. One person who was at his corner was enough to help him continue.

Ahead of their Round 2 series against the Los Angeles Lakers, Gilgeous-Alexander revealed Steve Nash always had his back. All the way back to his high school days — when he wasn’t necessarily a highly-touted recruit before he landed at Kentucky.

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Gilgeous-Alexander eventually did enough in his sole collegiate season to land No. 11 in the 2018 NBA draft. From there, it would take four NBA seasons for him to become a household name. Within the blink of an eye, though, he went from a first-time All-Star to probable back-to-back MVP winner, sharing the same sentences as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

Going back to his first interactions with Nash, Gilgeous-Alexander spoke fondly of the two-time MVP winner. At a young age, he encouraged the 6-foot-6 guard that he was on the right pathway. To hear that from an NBA legend must’ve made his whole summer and then some.

“Funny enough, Steve was the first person to tell me I was gonna make the NBA. I played for Team Canada’s senior men’s team when I was 16-17 years old. He just told me to stay on this path and I’ll be here one day,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “As a kid, hearing that from a two-time MVP was really big for my confidence level. That’s where I guess it started. Over the years, we’ve just kept in touch. He’s obviously a great guy, great basketball mind. Nothing but great things to say about Steve.”

Pretty cool to hear how influential Nash was to Gilgeous-Alexander’s NBA journey. A decade later, there’s a real chance that the latter usurps the former for the best basketball player in Canadian history — if it hasn’t happened already.

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Always a lot of love between Gilgeous-Alexander and Nash. Both have similar backgrounds and, really, similar journeys to the mountaintop. Let’s see if the reigning MVP can continue to add to his mythos as he hopes the Oklahoma City Thunder go back-to-back.

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: How a 2-time MVP helped shape Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s NBA journey