MVPs: 2. Finals MVPs: 0. All-NBA 1st Team: 3. 2nd Team: 2. 3rd Team: 2. All Star: 8. MVP: 0.
Defensive POY: 0. All-Defense Teams: 0.
Steals Champ: 1.
Career Averages: 14 PPG/ 3 RPG/ 8 APG/ .7 SPG/ .1 BPG/ .556 eFG%/ .904 FT%.
Best Season: 19/ 3/ 12/ .8/ .1/ .613/ .899 (2006-07).
Postseason Averages: 17 PPG/ 3 RPG/ 9 APG/ .6 SPG/ .1 BPG/ .529 eFG%/ .900 FT%.
Best Postseason: 24/ 5/ 11/ .9/ .2/ .559/ .919 (2005).
Championships: 0. Runner-ups: 0.
Why he's below Scottie Pippen: Nash had no Finals appearances and no defense, two things that Pippen excelled in. Though he has 2 MVPs, I don't think he should have won either of them. He was actually better the year after than he was either of the years he won, and that 3 year period were the only years he made 1st Team All-NBA. The no defense is the biggest reason I couldn't rank him higher than this though and was a big part of why he never made the Finals.
Why he's above the rest: Whether I think he should have won them or not, he does have 2 MVPs. His win shares are surprisingly low for someone with a high assist to turnover ratio and good shooting percentages, but they're low because of the impact Nash had on his teammates. He turned Shawn Marion and Amare' Stoudemire into borderline hall of famers, and he made Joe Johnson a 48% three-point shooter in 2005 and earned him $200 million. And when defenses respected his ability to get teammates open shots, Nash would knock down the open shot himself. He led the league in eFG% once and joined the 50/40/90 club a record 4 times. And perhaps most importantly, Nash played a big role in changing the way the game is played. The fastest paced team in 2003-04, the year before Nash joined the Suns, played 93 possessions per game. Within 3 years, in 2006-07, 8 teams played faster than that. Since 2017-18, every team in the league has played faster than 93 possessions per game. Whether you love the current style of play or hate it, you have Nash to thank or blame. Fast paced play, high screens, penetration and kicking out to wide open shooters worked, and the entire league copied it.
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