A thank you to Steve Nash
I should prelude this first by saying that I am Canadian, and as a Canadian, loving Steve Nash is essentially a prerequisite for citizenship. Its like being Canadian and not believing Anthony Calvillo is the greatest QB of all-time, you just can’t be Canadian with thinking this (I know what you’re thinking, who is Anthony Calvillo). But this goes beyond Nationalities and to the fact that it always appears he goes underrated or outright disrespected when discussing the great PGs of all-time or the legitimacy of his 2 MVPs. To be clear, ESPN as recently as 2016 did put him as #7 on their list of all-time greatest PGs, but there always seems to be an asterisk that goes with his worthiness to be on the list vs a Jason Kidd or Chris Paul (who’s only made 1 Conference finals to Nash’s 4). For example, on a 2012 episode of Home Court, the crew debated the legacy of top point guards and almost categorically took Steve Nash out of the conversation when compared against Jason Kidd and Gary Payton. So, lets dig deeper into this conversation:
At first glance, his stats do not jump out with career averages of 14.3 ppg, 8.5 apg, 3 rpg on .490/.428/.904 splits. If you take out his first 4 seasons (2 PHX stuck behind two HOF PGs JK and KJ and 2 DAL where still trying to find his footing in the NBA) and take out his LAL stint where his body finally gave up on him, you have 2001-2012. In those seasons, his splits were 16/10/3 on .430 3FG% shooting and never took more than 14 shots per game during that span all while playing 915 out of a possible 984 games. Anyone who knows basketball will tell you retroactively he should have been shooting a lot more and a lot more often. During this prime, his isolation game was perfect, his pick n roll game was perfect, his pick n pop game was perfect, there was not a weakness to his offensive game and he made a TON of money for a lot of people (always a good benchmark of a superstar). When you get to the playoffs those numbers moved to 18/9/4 splits on 40% shooting from 3, meaning he sustained his excellence and always showed up when it mattered most. If it was not for Robert Horrys hip check and Ron Artists miracle shot we are very likely looking at 2-time MVP, 2-time finals MVP, 2-time NBA champion. A few more numbers. 6 top 10 MVP finishes (3 in the top 2), 7 All-NBA selections (made even more impressive when looking at the below list of PGs from his generation), 8 all-star team selections, 5x NBA assist leader (the last time at age 36). List of 2-time NBA MVPs? 13 guys. That’s it, that’s the full list. In the 10’s of thousands of players that have played in the NBA since its beginnings in 1948 there have only been 13 multiple MVP award winners and he’s one of them. Guys like Wilt, Bill, Mike, Kareem, Lebron and Steve Nash will forever be on this list.
One thing to give more time than we normally do as NBA fans in how amazing the 2000s were for PG’s. In that time frame it was a gauntlet to get through the WC year after year (for example the Denver Nuggets 50 games in the 2007-2008 season and were the 8th seed). Looking back those times you could break the WC (just one conference!) PGs into tiers and the list becomes below:
Tier 1 – Tony Parker, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, early 2000s Mike Bibby
Tier 2 – Stephon Marbury, Mike Conley, Baron Davis, Ty Lawson, Jason Terry
Tier 3 – Monte, Early Steph, Early Westbrook
This was a murderers row of PGs and in that 2001-2012 time frame Nashs teams made 4 WCFs and 3 semi’s, so in a 11 year span Nash’s was on a top 8 team in 7 out of those 11 years. Steve Nash made 7 all-NBA teams between 2001-2012 which becomes even more impressive because he not only had to beat out the above guys guys for one those 6 guard spots + the EC PG’s but also the plethora of SG during this time frame (kobe, AI, Ray Allen, TMAC, VC just to name a few)
Maybe the most important thing though, he passed the eye test. Whether it was battling Duncans spurs, Dirks mavs or Kobe’s lakers, he always looked like he belonged and did not care who was on the opposite side, he had his guys and he was rolling with them. Seriously go back and watch any Suns games from the NBA playoffs 2005-2010, he owned those teams, everything went through him and every last shot was taken by him or as a result of him. He never made excuses, never talked out of line about players, coaches or opponents and played with an “F-U” edge that screams tough Canadian hockey player. He never even got mad when Shaq out right stole his “Steve vs” idea (its alright Steve we remember and we’re pissed for you). He was a hero for Canadians like me growing up, a 6’4 180 LBS white guy beating Duncan? Kobe? KG? get the F outta here, but he did it and for anyone that would admit it, he was every bit as good as those guys during that time. People will talk about the “D’antoni system” like Nash was just another Raymond Felton or Jeremy Lin that you could plug in and make any PG an MVP, but people know that wasn’t the case. Was D’antoni a head of his time with his ball movement system and multiple pick n rolls in the same possession? Absolutely. But it was Steve Nash’s mind and ability that unlocked that power for such a long period of time, all other players were a flash in the pan but it was Steve Nash’s ability and pure genius basketball mind that could see and make these shots and passes, play after play after play, game after game, year after year. Anyone can be put into a pick n roll but it takes a true genius to know what the other 6 players are doing on the court, where they are and where they are going to be. It was a true joy to watch him play and yeah, he was Canadian, which may every victory that much sweeter as a Canadian watching him.
Thank you, Steve.
