Before I go on to prove that I’m crazy, let me state the obvious: Steve Nash is a great player. No other player in the NBA has his skill set and not since John Stockton have we seen a more masterful ball distributor. And by my account, if you throw stats out the window and use the eyeball test (which I will continue to do throughout), Nash in his prime (2004-2007) looked better than Stockton.
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| Steve Nash is a great player whose greatness might be holding him — and his teams — back. |
But there is one recurring review of the game’s greatest point guard that’s been like nails on a clipboard for me. It's said so often. I’ve watched Nash’s entire career (I’m a Suns fan who lived in Dallas when he played there, so we have a very close relationship), especially his second stint with the Suns, and I drank the purple and orange kool-aide for a while. But not anymore. This dirty misconception has to be brought to the forefront once and for all. These starting five little words will go unscrutinized no longer.
Steve Nash makes people better.
That was hard to type and even harder to believe. Sure, it sounds right. So many players have gone to Phoenix and seen their stats inflated. Shooting percentages go up. Points per game get a boost. In reality, those are the only two statistics that players consistently see increase playing Superfriend alongside the 37-year-old Man of Still. Marginal players like Quentin Richardson, James Jones, Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell, Jared Dudley, Channing Frye, and even Tim Thomas have ridden Steve’s ball-distributing style and the Suns’ high-octane attack to career years and lucrative deals.
But for every Steve Nash success story, there’s a dark side of Planet Orange. Players get to the Valley of the Sun eager to play with Nash and feed off the easy shots. But the truth is, if you have offensive skills outside of catch-and-shoot, you might as well leave those at Sky Harbor International. Playing alongside Nash means you’d better learn to catch and score or you won’t see the floor. The players he “made better” are the ones who adopted and adapted. But what of the players who have skills beyond that? Or the ones who would benefit from developing more than a catch-and-shoot game?
What about Amare Stoudemire? Steve Nash spoon-fed him. That’s what we thought when he went to New York. But his scoring increased (while his shooting percentage fell 5%) and he got better at avoiding those offensive fouls when he suddenly had to create his own shots more often. He looks better offensively now than in Phoenix, and that’s not easy for a guy who was already averaging over 20 points per.
How about Shawn Marion? Yes, the only numbers he has haven't dropped are his age and vertical, but his field goal percentage has actually increased, no longer having to knock down corner 3-pointers. And everyone in Phoenix was shocked when they saw him actually scoring the ball in one-on-one situations against the Miami Heat. We all wondered where that was in 2005. Here’s a clue…it was in Nash’s pocket pass.
Joe Johnson looked great on the floor with Nash, catching-and-shooting to a career-best 48% from three-point range and serving as the primary ball-handler whenever Nash laid in the corner. That’s when we saw glimpses of the real Joe Johnson. The one Atlanta thought was worth a max deal. I, and his stats, still disagree with those contracts, but it’s no question he’s better now than he was in Phoenix.
Jason and Quentin Richardson both had decent post games before going to Phoenix. Both players’ post games have since gone milk carton. Robin Lopez is wasting precious years of development trying to learn how to play pick-and-roll with Nash. Marcin Gortat will be the next player who could really benefit from developing some type of low-post game, but won’t have the opportunity as long as Nash runs the show.
Even Shaq (admittedly, by that time, watching him play was like listening to Whitney Houston sing – it’s so painful because you know how great they were) gave up his customary low-post positioning and found himself in the situation he could never even defend: the pick-and-roll. Vince Carter expected to see a scoring increase, but you could see his lack of interest in the game when he was no longer asked to dribble. Ever. A second look at Grant Hill will reveal that his numbers his last year in Orlando were basically the same as they are in Phoenix, so Nash has nothing to do with Hill’s extended success. Then there’s the most damning piece of evidence. It’s the German elephant in the room.
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| Dirk Nowitzki may have had to be separated from Nash to become the champion and Finals MVP he is today. |
I love Steve Nash. He’s one of the great things about sports. I can’t think of a reason anyone wouldn’t like him. He’s like the ice cream of the NBA – even the lactose intolerant people who shouldn’t like it find some kinda way to enjoy it. But his greatness at spoon-feeding teammates has been his biggest weakness – a tragic flaw. Since he’s been making the game “easier” for others, none of his teammates have developed a strong enough skill set to help him and his teams get over the top.
It would be great if Nash could somehow work his way to Miami (Heat sign Chalmers and a big like Dalembert and send both to Phoenix?). It would add a couple years to the career of His Agelessness. He would take some of the pressure to create off of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade when necessary. And he’d finally be what he’d relegated other NBA players to becoming: a spot-up shooter.
If you’ve hung in this long, you’re probably convinced I’m nuts. Insane. Off my rocker. Crazy. But right now, you might be questioning your own sanity. In which case, you’ll need treatment. Watch some Suns highlights. After all, Steve Nash makes people better...right?
