Ranking the 50 greatest NBA players of all time

33. Steve Nash

• Resume: 18 seasons, 2 regular season MVP Awards, 7-time All-NBA selection, 8-time NBA All-Star, 5-time NBA leader in assists, 4-time 50-40-90 club member, NBA’s third all-time assists leader, Hall-of-Famer
• Stats: 14.3 PPG, 8.5 APG, 3.0 RPG, .490/.428/.904 shooting splits, 20.0 career PER, 129.7 win shares

Let’s ignore the two-plus years Nash spent with the Lakers, because they were a depressing and unfitting end to a Hall-of-Fame career. Plus, as you can see by his stat line above, they severely brought his numbers down. Instead, let’s focus on an equally disappointing topic and talk about what could have been with the “Seven Seconds Or Less” Phoenix Suns.

Nash never made it to the NBA Finals in his prestigious career. He made the Western Conference Finals four times, but was never able to break through due to A) facing the eventual champion three times, B) Joe Johnson’s injury in 2004, C) bogus suspensions for Amar’e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw in 2007, D) Jason Richardson’s missed box-out on Ron Artest in the 2010 Western Conference Finals and E) owner Robert Sarver trading talented draft picks for future picks and cash in like four straight drafts.

Some guys just have bad luck. But in spite of that, and in spite of the fact that you could make a case against both of Nash’s MVP awards (Shaquille O’Neal probably should’ve won in 2005 and Kobe Bryant was a strong contender in 2006, though Nash actually did deserve it in 2007), Canada’s favorite basketball player stands proudly among the all-time great point guards.

Steve Nash shared something in common with Walter White: He rightfully didn’t want to be remembered by the slow decay that came with the countdown to his ending. Instead, let’s remember him as a back-to-back MVP winner, one of the best teammates and floor generals the league has ever seen, and a member of the most dynamic pick-and-roll duo the NBA’s seen since John Stockton and Karl Malone.