Lakers’ Steve Nash shares video of himself hitting golf ball

Steve Nash posted to his Instagram account a brief video of himself whacking a golf ball at a driving range. People cheered in the background because he appeared to hit it a solid distance.

Nash, 40, was ruled out for the season last month because of recurring back problems. Fans weren’t overly kind in responding on his Instagram page.

The more printable comments included “thought he was injured” and “can’t carry a [travel] bag but can … swing like tiger woods.”

The Lakers declined to comment about the video.

Nash is in the last year of a contract paying him $9.7 million this season.

The Lakers have allowed Nash to spend time away from the team but Coach Byron Scott is hopeful he’ll eventually return and serve as a mentor for the team’s younger players.

Nash will have played only 65 games over the three-year span of his Lakers tenure.

He took part in the team’s exhibition opener last month, had 11 points and five assists, and sat out of the second exhibition. He played only the first half of the team’s third exhibition before removing himself because he didn’t feel right.

He never made it back to the basketball court before the Lakers declared him done for the season. He has not officially retired because the team can still trade him as an expiring contract even though he won’t play again.