Stephen Nash was born in South Africa but quickly after that became the Canadian citizen we are so proud to call our own…….this blog is to recognize the Hall Of Fame career that Nash is putting together……His year-in year-out passing, dribbling, shooting, facilitating has been on an amazing level for some time now….leadership-wise this guy has the praise and respect of every teammate, and his toughness is constantly on display…….Every coach raves about what a leader and coach-able teammate Steve Nash is…..Bob Houbregs is the lone Canadian player in the Hall Of Fame, but let’s look at the resume of Steve Nash….
Steve Nash was a high-school star for St Michael’s in Victoria BC who many college teams passed on but went on to lead the Santa Clara Broncos to the NCAA tournament 3 times……
1996 NBA Entry Draft the Phoenix Suns use the #15 overall pick to draft Nash……his career gets off to a pedestrian start and after 2 years in the desert he was shipped to Dallas where his career began to blossom and he became BFF with Disco Dirk and Mark Cuban…..Nash was instrumental in running the first playoff-bound offense for Dallas in a very long time in 2000, and Nash’s career was getting going….
things went BOOM from there……
seems like after the Y2K scare was over Kid Canada took over as an elite point guard in this league and 10 years later he is still doing special things……here is a look at NBA players that have played on multiple teams and had career highs in points per game when playing on a Steve Nash-led offense: Michael Finley, Shawn Marion, Raja Bell, Adrian Griffin, James Jones, Jared Dudley - and Nash orchestrated some of the best seasons for Boris Diaw, Jason Richardson, Channing Frye, Quentin Richardson, Eddie House
Career numbers look like this currently – 14.6 ppg – 8.3 apg (7th best ever – 10.9 in his last 6 seasons since returning to Los Suns)…..only 4 players ever have hit the 3-point shot at a higher percentage then Nash, and if he can improve his career free-throw percentage by .002 he will be the best free-throw shooter in NBA history….
Nash is a 7-time NBA All Star, and how amazing to also be a 2-time NBA MVP
Recent inductees to the Hall Of Fame at the guard position have included guys like Joe Dumars and Adrian Dantley….all due respect to both of those players and their Hall Of Fame careers but Nash’s career would clearly match-up, and very likely surpass those 2 recent examples……
Historically speaking I don’t believe any MVP, let alone 2-time MVP is not in the Hall Of Fame
As sports fans we would hope that someone truly worthy of a Hall Of Fame moniker is amazing off the court as well…..The Steve Nash Foundation does terrific work with kids through grants given to nonprofit entities and public services……Nash built a pediatric cardiology ward in a hospital in Paraguay and he has been instrumental in raising money for children’s charities in Uganda, Afghanistan, China etc, and sponsors a youth league in BC…….
Nash has the respect of all teammates, plus the rare admiration and respect of every opponent as well….Steve has represented himself and Canada very well in the 2000’s and is sure to be doing us proud again during his Hall Of Fame induction speech.......
