Where does Steve Nash rank among all-time point guards?
Scott Rafferty (@crabdribbles): In the 5-8 range, with some order of Magic Johnson, Stephen Curry, Oscar Robertson and Chris Paul ahead of him. It gets difficult after that, but there's a strong case to be made for him being better than at least two — and perhaps all five — of John Stockton, Jason Kidd, Bob Cousy, Isiah Thomas and Walt Frazier. (Jerry West would be on this list if he wasn't as much of a shooting guard as he was a point guard).
Gilbert McGregor (@GMcGregor21): Nash comes in at 7 for me — right after Jason Kidd and right ahead of John Stockton. My top five? Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, Chris Paul, Stephen Curry and Isiah Thomas.
Historically, the point guard position has so many talented playmakers it's nearly impossible to rank them objectively. Despite not winning a title, Nash is a lock in my top 10 as his resume includes winning back-to-back MVPs and an unprecedented run from 2001-2010.
Micah Adams (@MicahAdams13): I'll cheat and say a 9-way tie for 4th. In my book, the top three point guards of all-time are Magic Johnson, Chris Paul and Stephen Curry, with a relatively large drop off until the next tier. What? No Oscar Robertson!?!?! Recency bias!
After that is when it becomes tricky and ultimately depends on your personal preference. Robertson is a completely different player than Steve Nash. Gary Payton is a completely different player than John Stockton. Jason Kidd, Russell Westbrook, Isiah Thomas, Walt Frazier, Bob Cousy ... all different styles and dominant in different eras. Do you value volume scoring more than making others better? How important is defense? Point guard is perhaps the most context dependent position in basketball, and it's for that reason why you could reasonably slot any of those nine players 4-12 in any order and I'd probably be cool with it.
Kyle Irving (@KyleIrv_): Nash just slides into my top five — through a cloud of about five other point guards. After Magic Johnson and Stephen Curry, two players that changed the way the game and position is played completely, the last three spots get foggy. Chris Paul has been phenomenal and still has time to earn the championship he needs to sharpie himself in the top five, though I still think he holds a place in there anyway. It's hard to leave John Stockton out because of the records he set as well.
That leaves Nash, Jason Kidd, Oscar Robertson, Bob Cousy and Isiah Thomas to fill out that remaining spot. While my opinion may be biased with Nash being my favourite player of all-time, I believe that he is deserving of the fifth spot. He was truly a wizard with the basketball and one of the most efficient shooters the game has ever seen.
Check out Nash's shooting percentiles (in blue) for each range for the last 10 full yrs of his career (from @cleantheglass ). He was not good, not great, but absolutely ELITE from everywhere. pic.twitter.com/DnTdrfuNNK
— statcenter (@statcenter) September 4, 2018
Carlan Gay (@TheCarlanGay): Nash is a bonified Hall of Famer, but in terms of best point guards of all time, he sits around just inside the top 10. With names such as Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, Jason Kidd, Isiah Thomas and John Stockton on the list, it's hard to put him in the top five.
Stephen Curry, Chris Paul and even Russell Westbrook are currently putting together careers that might have already surpassed Nash. His lack of not only a championship ring but not even a Finals appearance might see him drop further down the list in the future.
One thing is for certain: Nash is the best Canadian to ever lace them up.
