Steve Nash is not only one of the NBA’s best shooters, passers and playmakers. He’s also its most active entrepreneur. “I realized the more I did, the more good I could do,” he says. Here’s a breakdown of Nash's wide-ranging portfolio, from a film production company to a marketing start-up to one of the league’s most respected foundations.

A few years ago, Nash, whose father played pro soccer, tried to buy a minority stake in the English franchise Tottenham Hotspur, Nash's longtime favorite. When it didn’t work out, he became a co-owner of the Vancouver Whitecaps and helped his hometown team join Major League Soccer (starting in 2011). A devoted footballer in the off-season, Nash advises on player development and training.

Early in his career, Nash simply wrote checks to charities. Now he's a seasoned social capitalist. He taps his network of fellow athletes, such as Yao Ming, for annual charity soccer and basketball games to raise money. The Steve Nash Foundation gives grants (up to $200,000) to help underserved children, funding clean-water projects, after-school programs, and health-care facilities. In 2007, the NBA awarded Nash its highest award for community service.

Nike does the heavy-lifting for LeBron and Kobe. Nash is a DIYer: He pitches the ad concept, writes the script, and directs the video. This $6 Million Man spoof promotes Trash Talk, his Nike shoe made from recycled materials. He and his cousin, filmmaker Ezra Holland, now operate their own production company, Meathawk. Their ESPN Films documentary on the legendary Terry Fox, who ran across Canada on a prosthetic leg in the 1980s, airs later this year.

Nash and L.A. Clippers' Baron Davis have a mutual interest in film and social media. After creating a minor YouTube hit in this Stepbrothers parody, they started Apoko last year, a company that coaches athletes in marketing themselves using social media and building their fan base. Apoko just signed its first clients, including the Spurs' Roger Mason and the New York Yankees' Nick Swisher.

Jeff Mallett, the former president of Yahoo, is a longtime family friend, a Whitecaps co-owner, and a business mentor. He has encouraged Nash to build a portfolio around his off-court passions – film, fitness, the environment, soccer, needy children. Last year, they became part-owners of Women's Professional Soccer. The WPS begins its second season in April with eight teams, including the St. Louis Athletica, starring Olympic gold-medalist Hope Solo.

Nash used to be so low-profile that his agent called him "the reluctant icon." No more. Recently, he's had cameos on Entourage and in the upcoming film Life As We Know It [here he is on the set with actor Josh Duhamel]. Last year, Nash covered the NBA Finals for the Late Show with David Letterman. He hopes the exposure boosts his businesses and nonprofits. "Why wait until I'm done playing," he says, "when I won't have as much visibility and the opportunity to add value as I have now?"

Until a few years ago, Nash mostly avoided product endorsements. He wasn't comfortable with the crass commercialization and letting a company exploit his image. But having his own production outfit affords Nash creative control, just as Facebook and Twitter give him direct communication with fans on his terms. In this clever Vitaminwater ad, which Meathawk made, he satirizes the typical athlete-pitchman.

Nash is an equity owner in Mission Skincare, which develops products after field-testing by him and stars such as Serena Williams, Mia Hamm, and skateboarder Ryan Sheckler [leaping over Nash here]. Part of the revenue goes to the athletes' charities, an important component for Nash when doing endorsement deals.

Nash teamed up with 24-Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov to open the Steve Nash Sports Club in Vancouver in 2007. The electric saunas, bamboo lockers, and recycled-tire flooring reflect Nash's passion for the environment. Another club even uses energy-generating spinning bikes to help power the club. With a recent acquisition of another Canadian chain, the company is adding 13 locations.

Last year Nash was listed as an executive producer on Shaq Vs., which featured Shaquille O’Neal taking on top athletes in other sports, such as Olympic volleyball gold-medalists Misty May and Kerri Walsh. According to the Arizona Republic, Nash was developing the concept himself when Shaq joined the Suns and swiped the idea. Nash won't confirm this, but his Nike ad Training Day, showing his serious multi-sports skills back in 2007, speaks volumes.

As a high school hoops star in hockey-rabid Canada, the future two-time NBA MVP received only one college scholarship offer, from Santa Clara University. Naturally, MakeItPro, a new site where amateur athletes can share their resume and highlight clips with coaches and scouts (and meet other athletes), appealed to him. Nash, whose profile page is shown here, is a co-owner.

Playmaker Mobile, which launched on Verizon phones last year, charges fans $3.99 a month for access to exclusive video, photos, and blogs from Nash and other top athletes, such as Yao Ming and Donovan McNabb. Nash shares in the revenue.

Football for Good is a joint project between Nash's foundation and another nonprofit. The goal is promoting human rights through the development of children's soccer programs in war-ravaged countries. To get the word out, he and Meathawk shot a Mission Impossible spoof, in which he plays a globe-trotting agent assigned to carry out a soccer prank on several stars.

Now playing his 14th year, Nash, who turns 36 this month, credits his longevity to fitness and nutrition. After discovering OneBode, which makes whole-food nutrients and supplements, he became a part-owner. On Facebook, he spreads the word about OneBode discounts to his nearly 600,000 fans. "I want people to have a more educated eye about what they put in their bodies," he says.

Along with endorsing eco-friendly sneakers, Nash seeks out other opportunities to promote green products and services whenever possible. He was behind the push to get solar panels installed atop the Suns' arena, U.S. Airways Center. And he appears in Arizona Public Services ads like this one to promote its renewable energy initiatives.

In December, Nash began writing a health and fitness column in Men's Journal. "I'm very conscious of my diet and health to maximize my performance," he tells me. "This is how I live my life. I don’t have to make this up." His first column described the benefits of his giving up refined sugar last year: a quicker recovery after workouts and no colds.

Related links:
How Steve Nash Shines in Basketball--and Business
Baller Steve Nash Scores a Web Video Three-Pointer