Suns 5-On-5: The Best Of Steve Nash

With Steve Nash heading to the Phoenix Suns Ring of Honor, we already have one game locked down where not even Markieff Morris can be justified for complaining about the crowd noise. We tackle that and more in this week’s Suns 5-on-5.

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1. With Steve Nash being elected to the Ring of Honor, where does he rank amongst the best Suns of all time?

Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet):  I don’t mean to get caught up in the moment here, but he’d have to be No. 1. Charles Barkley may have been the best player to ever suit up for the Suns, but Steve Nash was undoubtedly the greatest player in franchise history (if that makes sense). What Nash gave to this team, this franchise and this city is unparalleled. It was a no-brainer to put him in the Ring of Honor as the player that fans picture when they think of the most prolific face of the franchise.

Gavin Schall (@GavinSchall):  Charles Barkley was absolutely the most dominant physical force in the history of the franchise (there will never be another 6’6″ guy to average over 11 rebounds a game for 13 seasons), but no one made his teammates better than Nash did and no one meant as much to the fans as he did. The fact that he’s one of 10 players ever to win consecutive MVP’s and that he owns four of the 11 50-40-90 seasons all time is just the statistical icing on the intangibles cake.

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Mark Harris (@Harris_Mark7):  Either one or two depending on how one were to categorize it. If it was by best player overall, Charles Barkley would take that spot. But since I think the Ring of Honor should recognize the time spent in Phoenix as a factor, then Steve Nash should be No. 1. Unlike Barkley, Nash spent the majority of his career with the Suns.

Looking at stats alone, Nash really stands out. Nash had seven double-digit assist years and averaged 14.3 points per game (11 of those years he averaged at least 14.5 PPG).  But what was most important about Nash was his leadership. Although he was a talented player, Nash remained an unselfish team player.

Scott Chasen (@SChasenKU):  I’m totally biased in that Steve Nash is my favorite player of all time, so I’d definitely have him top three, but I think I’d have to go with Barkley at the number one spot. I think Nash is definitely ahead of more recent guys like KJ and Thunder Dan, and he might be all the way up at two, but there are some pretty good names on that (really short) list.

Colton Dodgson (@dodgsoncolton):  Steve Nash is not only one of the greatest players to wear the Suns uniform, he is one of the best pure passers the league has ever seen. The two-time league MVP averaged 10.9 assists per game in his second stint with the Suns (from 2004 on,) and while anyone could make the argument for Charles Barkley, Nash should be viewed as the best player the team has inducted into their Ring of Honor to date.

Next: No. 2