50 Greatest NBA Players Without A Championship (Updated Through 2015-16)
By Phil Watson
10. Steve Nash
Phoenix Suns 1996-98, 2004-12; Dallas Mavericks 1998-2004; Los Angeles Lakers 2012-14
Born in South Africa and raised in Canada, Steve Nash took an unconventional path to NBA stardom. Taken 15th overall by the Phoenix Suns out of Santa Clara, Nash eventually turned into one of the top point guards of all-time.
Primarily a reserve during his first two seasons in Phoenix, the Suns were bounced in the first round in both 1997 and 1998, with Nash tallying a total of 66 minutes in the two series combined.
His career turned on draft night in 1998 when he was traded to the Mavericks for forward Martin Muursepp, guard Bubba Wells and the rights to forward Pat Garrity, plus a first-round pick in 1999.
Dallas was obviously very high on Nash.
They were right.
Nash was a two-time All-NBA player with the Mavericks and was chosen for two All-Star games. The rebuilding club missed the playoffs in 1999 and 2000 before breaking out with a 53-win season in 2000-01.
Dallas survived a Game 5 against the Utah Jazz in the first round, but was thumped in five games by the San Antonio Spurs in the second round. In 2002, a first-round sweep of the Minnesota Timberwolves was followed by a five-game loss to the Sacramento Kings.
The Mavs took the next step in 2003, getting through a pair of Game 7s in the first two rounds to eliminate the Portland Trail Blazers and the Kings, but they lost the Western Conference Finals in six games to the Spurs.
But a disappointing first-round exit ended 2003-04.
In July 2004, Nash returned to Phoenix as a free agent and his career took off to the stratosphere.
The NBA’s Most Valuable Player in both 2004-05 and 2005-06, Nash was an All-NBA player five times in his second stint with the Suns and was named to six All-Star games. Besides his two wins, Nash was runner-up for MVP in 2006-07 and had three other top-10 finishes.
He also led the NBA in assists five times and in free-throw percentage twice. He is the NBA’s all-time leader in free-throw shooting at 90.4 percent and had four 50-40-90 seasons to join an elite group of shooters.
In 2005, the Suns powered past the Memphis Grizzlies and Nash’s former club, the Mavericks, before losing the Western Conference Finals in five games to San Antonio.
The next season, Phoenix doubled up on seven-game series wins over the Los Angeles teams—the Lakers and Clippers—before losing the conference finals to the Mavericks in six games. In 2007, the Suns were bounced by the Spurs in the second round.
San Antonio got the Suns again in the first round in 2008 and the Suns missed the playoffs in 2009 despite 46 wins.
In 2010, Phoenix made another deep run, beating the Trail Blazers and sweeping the Spurs to get back to the Western Conference Finals, where they lost in six games to the defending champion Lakers.
After two straight playoff misses, Nash went to the Lakers in a sign-and-trade.
Things didn’t work out so well in L.A.
Nash missed 32 games with a fractured leg in 2012-13 and played in only two of the Lakers’ four straight losses to San Antonio in the first round.
In 2013-14, Nash played in only 15 games because of nerve root damage in his back and legs as Los Angeles missed the playoffs. The same ailment ultimately led Nash to retire in March 2015, after he missed the entire season to that point.
He is currently third on the NBA’s all-time list with 10,335 assists, and 10th with a 42.8 career 3-point percentage and an average of 8.5 assists per game.
The final tally on Nash’s playoff career:
NBA Finals: 0-0
Conference Finals: 0-4
Conference Semifinals: 4-3
First Round: 7-5
Next: 9. Never Had A Championship Answer