Steve Nash is one of the only three point guards ever to win more than one Regular Season MVP awards. His pass-first nature coupled with his reliable long-range shot made him the perfect player for the evolving game. As a part of the Phoenix Suns, his Pick-and-Roll chemistry with Amar’e Stoudemire drew parallels to John Stockton and Karl Malone’s partnership. However, Rashad McCants still thinks Nash’s status as a “super elite” PG is questionable.
Advertisement
On Gil’s Arena, host Josiah Johnson asked the crew to name the “craftiest” player they have ever seen. McCants named Steve Nash as the most creative player he ever matched up against.
The 39-year-old is still in awe of Nash’s wizardry in Pick-and-Roll situations. McCants said, “I say Steve Nash, that’s a crafty motherfu**er…He was hitting us with all kind of sh** in that pick-and-roll, it was so much.”
However, then he turned his attention to Nash’s legacy as a “super elite” point guard. McCants highlighted that Stoudemire’s role in elevating his profile during his Suns tenure stops him from dubbing the two-time MVP a ‘super elite’ point guard.
As an athletic power forward with terrific understanding of PNR dynamics, he was indispensable during the guard’s MVP seasons.
Per McCants, had it not been for Stoudemire, the former Suns guard would have not been as effective. As a pass-first guard, he would have been limited in his operations without an elite roller.
Apart from that, quality three-point shooters Raja Bell, Leandro Barbosa, James Jones, and Shawn Marion also opened up the floor for him.
“It’s hard to dictate whether Steve Nash was a super-elite point guard or not because Amar’e contributes so much to his career. If Amar’e is not a dynamic roller, the way that he is and he comes in and he [Nash] gets those all those options out there [to pass], his craftiness is like limited,” McCants added.
He also brought up Nash’s tenure with Dirk Nowitzki to make his point. The guard couldn’t reach his full potential because the Mavs couldn’t open up the opportunities for him.
As per the 39-year-old, the 2x MVP was only able to make his fancy no-look behind-the-back passes with the Suns because of their roster dynamic, which hinged on Stoudemire’s inside game.
“When he played with Dirk, it was just him and Dirk, you didn’t really see him getting off with everyone else. You open up the floor. You look at Steve Nash, he is out there doing all kind of crazy passes. You don’t really have the freedom unless you got somebody you could throw that to guarantee every time you out there, you fu**ing around.”
To McCants’ point, Nash tallied 8.8 assists per game during his last season(2003-04) with the Mavericks. Meanwhile, he put up 11.5 APG just in his first season(2004-2005) with the Suns. But in another interesting detail, the Canadian guard did have two 10+ APG seasons after Stoudemire departed to the New York Knicks in 2010.
Overall, Rashad McCants’ points have merit. But as much as Nash needed Stoudemire, the latter also had his best years with the crafty guard.
Additionally, it can be argued that every great point guard needs elite teammates to thrive in the league. Magic Johnson had James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to unlock his best seasons too.
