NBA: 2000s All-Decade first team

Nov 21, 2012; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics forward/center Kevin Garnett (5) and San Antonio Spurs forward/center Tim Duncan (21) push against one another during the fourth quarter at TD Banknorth Garden. The San Antonio Spurs won 112-100. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports /

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Jan. 30, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA: Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Nash prior to the game against the Phoenix Suns at the US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

First Team: G – Steve Nash:

2000s Resume: 10 seasons, 2 regular season MVP awards, three-time All-NBA First Team, one-time All-NBA Second Team, two-time All-NBA Third Team, three-time NBA leader in assists, three-time 50-40-90 club member, six-time NBA All-Star, 16.0 PPG, 9.0 APG and 3.2 RPG, 20.6 average PER

Steve Nash’s first few seasons in the league weren’t anything special, but once he got the opportunity to start with the Dallas Mavericks, he soon blossomed into one of the NBA’s best floor generals. But it wasn’t until he signed with the Phoenix Suns halfway through the decade that Nash became an elite assist machine, the NBA’s best pick and roll point guard and a two-time MVP (even if he may not have truly deserved the second one over Kobe Bryant).

In his time with the Suns, Nash helped Amar’e Stoudemire develop into one of the league’s most dynamic power forwards, he led the NBA in assists three times and he joined the prestigious 50-40-90 club not once, not twice, but three times. He was never a high-volume scorer, preferring to get his teammates involved on offense, but he was lethally efficient when he did put up shots, especially in the lane when he became a magician with the ball who could find the tiniest of openings for either a dazzling reverse layup or an uncovered teammate.

Nash and the Run-N-Gun Suns changed the course of NBA history, using a high-paced offense that led the league in scoring in five out of his first six seasons in Phoenix. The Suns averaged 109.7 points per game during that stretch, employing a “Seven Seconds Or Less” offense that had Nash constantly pushing the tempo and finding open teammates out of quick pick and rolls. Three trips to the Western Conference Finals never yielded a title or even an NBA Finals appearance for Nash (for various reasons), but there’s little doubt about who the best point guard of the 2000s was.

Next: Kobe Bryant

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