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Steve Nash retires

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Songbird, Mar 22, 2015.

  1. MisterCreosote

    MisterCreosote Well-Known Member

    Nash is solidly in the second tier of great NBA point guards - on par with, say, Isiah Thomas and Clyde Frazier, but a step below Magic, Stockton, Kidd and Oscar.

    And, he's got at least a few years left as the greatest Canadian basketball player ever, before falling to second behind Andrew Wiggins.
     
  2. RecoveringJournalist

    RecoveringJournalist Well-Known Member

    I would argue with the notion that Nash was better than Isiah.
     
  3. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    OK, so Duncan has to be greater than Nash for dominating the NBA from the Virgin Islands. :rolleyes:
     
  4. RecoveringJournalist

    RecoveringJournalist Well-Known Member

    Just re-read, saw you said on par with Thomas... I would probably still put Thomas in the top tier and put Nash right at the top of that second tier.
     
  5. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Well, that's either obtuse or argumentative for the sake of an argument. The point again wasn't that Nash was a better basketball player than Gretzky was a hockey player.

    Tim Duncan has nothing to do with it. But feel free to start a thread about Duncan's place relative to Horace Clarke on the list of all-time Virgin Island athletes. It will probably generate much less conversation.

    Again, the only reason it is any sort of a conversation with Gretzky vs. Nash is that hockey is a Canadian game. Basketball isn't. Gretzky put hockey on the map for a lot more Americans. Nash took something very American and added a bit of Canada to it.
     
    Songbird and JC like this.
  6. JC

    JC Well-Known Member

    No, but I think the the comparison is what Nash did for basketball in Canada to what Gretzky did for hockey. The better player is obviously not up for debate.
     
  7. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    I'll avoid the rabbit hole and touch on JC's point. What precisely has he done for basketball in Canada? I believe there'd be a Toronto Raptors whether there was a Steve Nash or not. Whether there'd have been a Vancouver Grizzlies without him is moot because there is indeed no Vancouver Grizzlies. Has there been a flood of Canadians on NBA rosters? Not as far as I know. If there has been a boom in ratings that can be largely attributed to him, I would concede that as an impact.
     
  8. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    Not getting the idea of Nash not being on par with Isiah, or in fact significantly better. Nash is a two-time MVP and Isiah never sniffed that. By the time the Pistons got great, I don't know if Isiah was even in the top 10 among guards. Very efficient and the linchpin of that team obviously, but not as great a player as suggested.
     
  9. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    There is a huge influx of Canadian players in the NCAA, I think there were like 50 a couple years ago, and most people believe Andrew Wiggins was the tip of the iceberg in that talent making its way to the NBA (along with some others such as Stauskas). Those guys would have been between 5 and 10 years old when Nash burst on the scene.

    I think it's fair.
     
  10. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    OK, so perhaps being ultimately responsible for an influx into college ball and a 2 or 3 percent presence in the NBA. Compare that with leading to the founding or survival of perhaps 20 percent of a league's teams. Point is, Nash's impact can be fairly stated and can be impressive without trying to make it Gretzky-esque.
     
    Gomer likes this.
  11. MisterCreosote

    MisterCreosote Well-Known Member

    There's no shame in being one of the 10 point guards of all time.

    But as long as we're on the subject, along with Nash, I'd also probably put Gary Payton and Chris Paul ahead of Isiah, too.
     
  12. JC

    JC Well-Known Member

    Maybe the most dominant player to ever play the game. So sad he was done at 28.
     
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