Jan. 30, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA: Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Nash (10) against the Phoenix Suns at the US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
A few days ago, it was announced that Steve Nash will be missing the entirety of the 2014-2015 NBA season after a flare-up of the nerve problems in his back. Given that Steve Nash has also announced that the 2014-2015 season would be his last in the NBA, this announcement was akin to retirement for the future hall of famer. Nash remains undecided about whether or not he will officially retire (i.e. whether or not he’ll waive his contract for this season), but it’s clear that his playing time is all over.
The revelation that Nash was no longer going to be an active member of the NBA landscape led to a great many thoughts in memoriam of Nash’s incredible career. We here at Nylon Calculus would feel remiss if we didn’t chime in on exactly how unbelievable a player Steve Nash was.
After the announcement, Kevin Pelton at ESPN tweeted an amazing chart, showing that Steve Nash-led offenses were the best in the league from 2002-2010, an nine-year stretch of dominance. I have recreated the chart, including the percent increase by which the Nash-led teams were better than the league average for that season:
To put that into perspective, we can compare the weighted offensive rating of Nash-led teams (how well they did relative to league average) with the weighted offensive rating of other elite offensive teams, like the 2000 Lakers, 2013 Spurs, or the top three offenses from last year:
Nash’s offenses, and the fabled Seven Seconds or Less Suns, were so much better than the rest of their league that it makes a mockery of any other offense that we can even conceive of.
When people say that Nash’s teams changed the NBA, that’s what they’re referring to: offenses so good, that they break our understanding of the ceiling of offensive efficiency.
The main critique of Steve Nash’s career, too, leading up to his eventual retirement, has been that he was perhaps the highest profile figure to play the least defense. And that’s fair. He has never been an even good defender. On the other hand, consider just how freaking amazing Steve Nash was on offense:
Keeping in mind that better than 3.0 ORAPM is All-Star level, and that LeBron usually has ended up around 9, per Jeremias Engelmann’s RAPM stats.
And, for all that, his defense has only fluctuated from “bad,” to “really bad” without ever being anything near disastrous, also per Engelmann’s RAPM. For all his bad defense, in the middle of Nash’s prime with the Seven Seconds or Less Suns, he was still a top-10 impact player in the whole NBA. Ignoring his last season where he barely played double digit games, Nash hasn’t had a below All-Star level offensive impact since 2001.
Steve Nash was an absolutely transcendent basketball player, to the point where, in spite of our our increased appreciation of defense and it’s impact, Nash’s contribution cannot be besmirched. Or, at least, it shouldn’t be. No one, not even LeBron, has been able to make a team’s offense transcendent just by walking on the court. Nash, in his prime, could do that. With his massive RAPM, incredible team numbers, and an assist rate that often went well over 50%, Steve Nash was the kind of player who genuinely got the best out of his teammates.
And of course, we can’t have a Steve Nash retrospective without bringing up that he has a seriously compelling argument for “greatest shooter of all time.” Of the only 6 players to ever have a 50/40/90 season (or, a season where a player shoots 50% from the floor, 40% from three, and 90% from the free throw line), only Steve Nash and Larry Bird have had such a season multiple times. Larry Legend has done it twice. Steve Nash, three times.
The most amazing thing about the 50-40-90 achievement, for Nash, is the difficulty of the shots he was making. In some cases (Jose Calderon in particular comes to mind), the achievement is gained because the player is really careful to take really open shots. To be that accurate is impressive by itself, but to be that accurate with a high level of difficulty is another thing.
I think that Nash has gotten a reputation among some as the kind of player to just shoot around screens or when spotting up, but Nash took so many really, really difficult shots, and he just nailed them.
And, I mean, look how absurd his shotcharts were on his 50/40/90 or near 50/40/90 seasons:
Similarly, check out this visualization of Steve Nash’s typical “hunting grounds,” from staff writer and creator of TeamSPACE, Matt D’Anna. Nash’s dominance from behind the arc is ridiculous, and unparalleled (short of Stephen Curry). That he was also deadly from the elbows and rim meant there was nowhere to hide. Nash was a deadly shooting force from everywhere, and a black hole of gravity, in the same way as Dirk Nowitzki:
I mean, watch this video, and tell me that Nash is being exceedingly measured (apologies for the cheesiness of the package, but the highlights are great):
Nash practiced those difficult shots, so that his patented one foot, off the dribble jumper, and his transition pull-ups were as comfortable as any other shot on the floor. I’m not trying to say that Nash wasn’t careful with his shot selection, he was absolutely methodical. But he took shots that made us go, “there’s no WAY he can make that,” and he still had 3 different 50/40/90 seasons!! That’s inconceivably impressive.
It’s really unfortunate that we have to start the 2014-2015 season on such a low note, with the retirement of one of the greatest to ever play. On the other hand, now is as good a time as any to reflect back on one of the most singularly spectacular offensive talents that the NBA has ever seen.