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In Memoriam: Remembering Steve Nash’s Career

ByGerald Bourguet|
Jan. 30, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA: Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Nash (10) against the Phoenix Suns at the US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Jan. 30, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA: Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Nash (10) against the Phoenix Suns at the US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
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Steve Nash
May 3, 2014; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Nash is present for the opening ceremonies as the Vancouver Whitecaps celebrate 40 years as they host the San Jose Earthquakes before the start of the first half at BC Place. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

The MVP Years

Nash’s emergence on the Mavs was fun to watch, but his time with the Suns changed the course of NBA offenses forever. In his first season on a team with Marion, Joe Johnson and Amar’e Stoudemire, Nash helped engineer a 33-win turnaround for the Suns, who won 62 games while averaging an NBA-best 110.4 points per game. Nash’s playing style meshed perfectly with head coach Mike D’Antoni‘s up-tempo offense, and he won the MVP award for it, edging Shaquille O’Neal with 15.5 points and 11.5 assists per game.

Phoenix advanced to the 2005 Western Conference Finals that season before bowing out in five games to the eventual champs, the Spurs. The following year, Nash became one of 10 players in NBA history to win back-to-back MVP awards while posting a career high in points (18.8 per game) and leading the league again in assists. But for the third time in his career, Nash fell short of the NBA Finals, falling to his former team, the Mavs, in the 2006 Western Conference Finals.

The following season, Nash averaged a career high 11.6 assists per game and the Suns might have finally broken through if not for a few controversial suspensions in a playoff series against the Spurs. Phoenix bowed out in the Western Conference semifinals in six games, while San Antonio went on to win the title that year. Following a midseason trade that shipped away Marion and brought Shaq to Phoenix, Nash wouldn’t reach the conference finals again until 2010.

Playing with Stoudemire, Grant Hill, Jason Richardson and Robin Lopez, Nash helped the Suns lead the league in scoring for the fifth season in a row. En route to the conference finals, Phoenix swept their rival Spurs and squared off the another rival for the right to a Finals appearance. If it weren’t for Richardson’s missed box-out on Ron Artest in Game 5, Nash might have finally been able to reach a championship series. Instead, Artest hit a game-winner and the series slipped away.

Nash remained with the Suns for two more seasons, largely wasting what was left of his prime with a Stoudemire-less roster that missed the playoffs both years. In his final game with the Suns, the crowd at US Airways Center could sense that it could be the end, chanting “We want Steve! We want Steve!” for most of the second half until head coach Alvin Gentry finally obliged. That summer, Nash would be traded to Phoenix’s dreaded rival. Little did anyone know that Nash’s final game in Phoenix would be the last time anyone would see him as a triumphant hero.

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