Steve Nash has been one of the best point guards in the NBA for the past decade, leading teams in Dallas and Phoenix to some of the best offensive seasons in the history of the league. He's an amazing facilitator, the kind of player who creates good shots for limited players and joins up with other stars to form dominant tandems.
On Tuesday night, Nash hit a milestone that confirms just how great he's been over the course of his 17-year career. With seconds left in the first half of the Los Angeles Lakers' road game against the Houston Rockets, Nash found Antawn Jamison on a pick-and-roll for the 10,000th assist of his career. He's only the fifth player to hit the mark, joining John Stockton, Jason Kidd, Mark Jackson, and Magic Johnson in a special group of point guards. (As Curtis Harris noted on Twitter, Oscar Robinson retired with 9,887 assists and likely would have hit 10,000 if the NBA schedule had been 82 games for his entire career.)
Nash left the game in the second half to receive some medical attention in the locker room, but he did return to play most of the fourth quarter. He finished the night with 16 points and 10 assists, yet that wasn't enough to save the Lakers from their fourth loss in a row. The Rockets won 125-112 on the strength of a huge third-quarter run, proving yet again that the Lakers have many holes. On this night, at least one player managed to make a bit of history in defeat.
After the jump, check out a special video from NBA.com of the top 10 assists in Nash's career.
Any top 10 list of a player with as many great passes as Nash is going to have room for argument, but this video has to make you watch in awe. We can discuss whether or not Nash deserved his two MVPs, but there's no question he's a unique talent. The only question now is where he'll end up on the all-time assists list.
No comments:
Post a Comment