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Steve Nash

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Template:Infobox Pro athlete Stephen John Nash (born February 7, 1974 in Johannesburg, South Africa) is a Canadian All-Star National Basketball Association player. Many refer to Nash as "The little MVP" or "Stevery Nash". Other nicknames for Nash include "Hair Nash" (given by Vince Carter), "Kid Canada", "Nashty Nash", and "Captain Canada".

Standing at 6 feet, 3 inches tall, Nash is the starting point guard for the Phoenix Suns. In just two seasons, the reigning two-time MVP has gone from being an occasional all-star to a future hall of famer.



NBA career

Dallas

Most Valuable Player 2005

In 2005, Nash slightly edged Shaquille O'Neal of the Miami Heat to win the NBA MVP award. Nash became one of the most distinctive players ever to win the award, as the first Canadian and the third foreign-born player (after Hakeem Olajuwon and Tim Duncan) to earn the honor. Along with Allen Iverson, he is one of only two players under 6'6" to win the award in the last four decades. He is the first MVP who did not lead his team in scoring since Dave Cowens in 1972-73. (Coincidentally, the 2005 runner-up, Shaquille O'Neal, did not lead his team in scoring either). He had the third-lowest all-time scoring average for an MVP, ahead of only Wes Unseld (13.8 in 1969) and Bill Russell (14.1 in 1965). Nash is just the fifth point guard ever to be named MVP — along with Allen Iverson, Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, and Bob Cousy — and only the sixth guard (Michael Jordan being the other). He is also the first white player to win the award since Larry Bird in 1985-86. Some critics questioned whether Nash deserved to win, due to the fact that he had so much talent around him.


Most Valuable Player 2006: Nash wins again

Following a leak in late April that appeared in the Arizona Republic newspaper, the MVP award to Steve Nash for the second year in a row was officially announced on May 7, 2006. . He received more votes than LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, and Chauncey Billups of the Detroit Pistons. This was only a day after the Phoenix Suns (playing against the Lakers) became the eighth team in NBA history to come back and win from down 3-1 in a best-of-seven playoff series. Nash received 236 ballot points more than second-placed James, who had 688 points. Nash also finished with the most first-place votes (57), 35 ahead of Bryant, who had 22.

Nash is only the second point guard, along with Magic Johnson, to win the award multiple times. With this repeat, Nash joined eight other NBA players to earn back-to-back MVP awards (Magic Johnson, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Tim Duncan). Nash is the 11th player in NBA history to win the MVP award multiple times.

International career

Steve Nash captained Canada's Mens Basketball team at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. He had been offered a place on the Great Britain basketball team, but he turned it down to play for Canada. At one point, with a successful round-robin record and a berth in the quarter-finals of the tournament, commentators regarded Canada as a contender for a medal. This was followed by a tough loss in the quarters to France, by 5 points. However, Canada won their final game of the tournament, a placement game against Russia, which enabled Canada to finish 7th overall. Nash expressed disappointment in the result, saying "It hurts a lot. I feel like I let everybody down." Nevertheless, he did see a possible silver lining, saying "Hopefully kids will be inspired to play -- that's what I really hope."

Nash again led Team Canada during qualifying for the 2004 Summer Olympics. Canada would qualify for Athens 2004 if they finished in the top three. Unfortunately, Canada lost the semi-final to the United States, and then the third place match to the home team Puerto Rico. Nash was named tournament MVP, but he admitted that he was disappointed since Canada didn't qualify for the Olympics.

Strengths and weaknesses

Nash is seen as one of the premier point guards in the NBA. He is one of the most creative and intelligent players, averaging double digits in assists while maintaining a relatively low turnover rate. He is a natural floor leader (demonstrated by the fact that his addition was partially responsible for turning the mediocre Phoenix Suns into a contender) and along with Jason Kidd, is the best fastbreak passer in the NBA. Because of his basketball intelligence, Nash is very effective playing the pick and roll with former Dallas teammate Dirk Nowitzki and later Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion. His ballhandling is superb as seen in the 2005 NBA All-Star Skills Contest, which he won. In addition, he is an excellent shooter and shoots more then 50% from the field, which is a rare occurrence among guards. His high shooting percentage is due in large part to his great shot selection and his great basketball IQ as he rarely takes contested shots. His old-fashioned mentality of "pass-first-shoot-second" is rarely displayed in the modern NBA. He is also a great three-point shooter and is the third best free throw shooter in NBA history. On May 11, 2006, ESPN.com rated Nash as the 9th greatest point guard of all time

Many critics point to Nash's defense as his primary weakness. His man-to-man defense is extremely suspect, and he can find it difficult to stay with his man and perform help defense. In the 2005-2006 season, Nash averaged 0.8 steals per game — below the league average for guards. Critics characterize his play as one-dimensional, arguing that while his offensive play is stellar, his weak defensive skills lower his overall performance. Therefore, in terms of all-around play, these critics rate Nash below other elite point guards like Jason Kidd and, formerly, Gary Payton. Critics argue that Nash is the only player to win the MVP award twice that was not a strong defensive player (Most Valuable Player and Most Valuable Player: Nash wins again). This point is validated by the fact that he did not receive any votes out of a possible 58 (29 each season from opposing NBA head coaches) for All-NBA Defensive teams (first or second) in the last two seasons. .

Nash's current place among NBA point guards is further called into question by the fact that in one on one matchups against other leading players at his position such as Kidd and Chauncey Billups, he has found the going tough and has greatly suffered on the court. Critics also question whether Nash has the ability to take a game into his own hands in terms of dominating as a scorer, when need be. However, overall, Nash is still widely regarded as one of the best point guards in the NBA currently, but when looking at his whole career, he has only come to be known as one of the NBA's best in the last two seasons.

Nash's play makes him one of the most challenging point guards to play against. His playing style is unorthodox compared to other modern point guards and he is sometimes referred to as one of the "dying-breed" of pure point men. Nash's style is frequently compared to the likes of Jason Kidd, John Stockton, and even Bob Cousy.

Off the court

Nash set up the Steve Nash Foundation in order to help underprivileged kids in all aspects of their lives. In one story recollected by his father, Nash was told to cut down on his philanthropy since he had already given a half-million dollars to charity. Nash replied that "there was so much more he could do". After he won the MVP award, numerous companies approached him to be the spokesperson for their products and appear in advertisements, but denied all requests and instead went on humanitarian trip to Central America. Nash also makes time meeting sick children in hospitals.

Another aspect of his life that has caused Nash to stand out from other NBA players is his keen interest in art, politics, and the world around him. For one, he is a discerning reader, tackling the works of such authors as Immanuel Kant and Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Nash also has a passion for travel, saying that "Whenever I travel, I feel almost calm. I love people. I love the world."

Nash's interest in politics led to controversy during the lead-up to the Iraq War when he chose to wear a custom-made t-shirt that stated "No war -- Shoot for peace" to the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. Nash explained his position by saying that the United States had provided insufficient evidence that Iraq was a threat and that the UN inspectors should be allowed to complete their mission. Although Nash did get positive support from teammate Nick Van Exel among others, he also drew criticism from David Robinson, a former Naval officer and fellow NBA player. Some journalists like Skip Bayless also criticized Nash as being uninformed and advised him to "just shut up and play".

On October 14, 2004, Nash and longtime girlfriend Alejandra Amarilla became the parents of twin girls, Lola and Bella, who were born in Phoenix. They married in June 2005.

In May of 2006, Nash was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In the accompanying write-up by Charles Barkley, Nash was lauded for his unselfishness on the court, and being "just a nice guy" who had paid for a new pediatric cardiology ward in a Paraguayan hospital.

Nash is the subject of a book by Jeff Rud, Long Shot: Steve Nash's Journey to the NBA.

Nash suffers from a medical condition called spondylolisthesis, a forward movement of one of the vertebrae in the spine in relation to the one below it, causing muscle tightness and back pain. Nash does not let his condition mar his performance on the hardwood. He tries to keep moving when on the court and lies supine on the endline when not in the game in order to keep from stiffening.

Career summary

  • 2-time NBA MVP: 2005, 2006
  • TSN NBA Co-MVP: 2006 (LeBron James is the other player to earn the award)
  • 4-time NBA All-Star: 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006
  • 3-time All-NBA:
  • First Team: 2005
  • Third Team: 2002, 2003
  • 2-time NBA regular-season leader, assists per game: 2005 (11.5), 2006 (10.5)
  • 2-time NBA regular-season leader, assists: 2005 (861), 2006 (826)
  • NBA regular-season leader, free throw percentage: 2006 (.921)
  • GQ Best Dressed List (2005)
  • Career stats: 13.5 ppg, 2.8 rbg, 7.1 apg, 0.1 bpg, 0.8 spg, .477 FG%, .421 3FG%, .896 FT%

Career transactions


References

External links

Preceded byKevin Garnett NBA Most Valuable Player
2004-05, 2005-06 		Succeeded byTBA
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