8 Jan 11 Steve Nash: The steal of the 1996 Draft, Pick #15

Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesWhen Steve Nash was selected as the fifteenth pick in a star-studded draft that included AI, Kobe and Ray Allen among others, he was booed by Suns fans simply because he was from an unknown college team. Today, I don't think there's a single Suns fan out there that isn't thankful that:(a)they drafted him, but more importantly(b)they signed him from the Mavs years later and(c)they resigned him to another 2 yearsIt's difficult to appreciate the genius of Nash especially if you're not a Suns fan. His career stats are far from jaw-dropping and at the end of the day, there are no monster dunks or blocks and his defense has often been termed as non-existent.The problem is that Nash made fans out of basketball followers in generalas well asthe cynics who deemed the NBA too San Francisco 49ers jersey
boring and preferred college hoops instead.In truth, the Phoenix run-and-gun/7-seconds-or-less system under D'Antoni workedbecauseof Nash and not the other way round. It was basketball played like never before and it was basketball played with winning in mind.And it reminded us that every once in a while, professional sport goes through a phase that revolutionizes the sport itself and essentially ends up proving that thereisan exciting/entertaining way to play the game and still end up winning. Gilchrist did it as a keeper, first the Rams did it in '99 then the Patriots in '07 in the NFL. The Dutch did it in the 70's on the football field and the Brazilians have been doing it forever. Federer and Woods have been doing it for years.Put simply, it's when you make winning look good.Nash isn't even the best player in the league. In fact, there's no doubt that the best overall player in the NBA today is Lebron James.He is, without a doubt, both the present and the future. Ray Allen might have the best shot and Kobe might be the most talented offensive player ever but Lebron can do anything and everything which includes winning. Chris Paul isprobablya more preferred point-guard than Nash.However, if the NBA were to have an artist, the one who could paint and bring things to life and make it seem as if the simplest could be the most beautiful, it has to be Steve Nash. He made Nowitzki and Juwan Howard look good (which wasn't that hard). But he also turned Marion into an All-Star and made Stoudemire temporarily look like an unstoppable offensive force. Barbosa, Bell and Diaw all looked better with Nash spreading the offense and distributing the ball.And then, everything seemed to have been broken, the dream snuffed away and the prospect of a ring further away than it had ever been.In Seattle Seahawks jersey
hindsight, the acquisition of Shaquille O'Neal was the biggest mistake that a high octane team like the Suns could ever have made. Frustrated by not being able to reach the finals, the move stank of desperation and the introduction of Terry Porter turned an exciting team that won far more than they lost, into an ordinary team that won just a bit more than they lost. And it seemed that there was no hope.That Stoudemire would never be the same.That the explosiveness and energy of Marion couldn't be substituted.That most importantly, Nash was 35 andcertainlyover the hill, the back-to-back MVP's long since forgotten and critically even unfairly referred to as anomalies.Think again.(1) Stoudemire back. Certainly not to his S-T-A-T best but BACK.(2) The talented and injury prone-turned-injury free Grant Hill playing like a true veteran.(3) J-Rich posting career bests in shooting accuracy.(4) CHANNING FRYE and JARED DUDLEY!! nailing threes like it's nobody's business when last year the former was rotting away in Portland.(5) Steve Nash averaging over 11 assists a game and shooting above 50-40-90 yet again for the umpteenth time in his career.This isn't to say that the Suns are the best team in the league. They're far from it. But they'll make the playoffs and they'll make the playoffs in style in the packed St. Louis Rams jersey
Western Conference.And yes, once again, they're far and away the most exciting team in the league.And it's the same man running the show.The same guy who was never given a chance in the NBA.The same guy who publicly spoke out against the Iraq war inviting the wrath of other 'patriotic' American professionals.The same guy who suffers from spondylolisthesis which causes muscle tightness and acute back pain.And yes, the same guy who was once called "The Poor Man's Stockton", just played his 1000th NBA game.