PHOENIX — Phoenix Suns legend Steve Nash came in at No. 51 on ESPN’s list of the top-100 greatest athletes of the 21st century.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!#51: Steve Nash
☄️ Hall of Fame
☄️ 2x MVP
☄️ 8x All-Star
☄️ 7x All-NBA
☄️ 5x Assist Leader pic.twitter.com/ycDSh0GCvS— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) July 17, 2024
“Before words like ‘efficiency’ and ‘pace’ became as common part of the NBA parlance as ‘slam dunk’ and ‘pick-and-roll,’ there was a diminutive guard from Canada who, as a contemporary of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in the late 1990s through early 2000s, ended up with as many regular-season MVPs as the two of them combined. Under the revolutionary tutelage of coach Mike D’Antoni with the Phoenix Suns, Nash won the award in 2005 and 2006 as the point guard on the heralded ‘7 Seconds or Less’ teams that made it to three Western Conference finals in six years. While Nash never won a ring, he maximized his talents as a 6-foot-3 point guard, shooting 50% overall, 40% from 3 and 90% from the free throw line in four seasons and leading the league in assists five times.”
ESPN also lists Nash’s key accomplishments as: NBA 75th Anniversary team, Basketball Hall of Famer, two-time MVP, eight-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA, five-time assists leader.
Nash is also in the Suns Ring of Honor and is No. 1 in Suns history in assists with 6,997 and free-throw percentage at 90.7%. The 6-3 guard played 10 of his 18 NBA seasons with Phoenix, averaging 14.4 points and 9.4 assists across 744 games in a Suns’ jersey.
This list was compiled by more than 70,000 votes from ESPN contributors. Today, ESPN released Nos. 51-75 and will reveal 25 more every day until reach their No. 1 athlete of the 21st century.
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
