3. A.C. Green
A.C. Green? As in the guy who was a part of the “Showtime Lakers”? Younger fans won’t believe this, but Green spent four seasons with the Suns from 1993-1997, and he was actually pretty good. Not quite the player he’d been with the Lakers, but then, they never would have let him go if that was the case.
The overlap came with a rookie Nash in 1996, a season where Green would start 19-of-27 games for the team (we’re again cheating slightly here…) before moving on to finish that season with the Dallas Mavericks. By the time Nash arrived, Green was still only 33-years-old.
AC Green once was elbowed in the face by J.R. Reid & lost his teeth. A man of faith, during our chat on Scoop B Selects, I asked Green if he forgave @JRReid7 and if Reid apologized.
— 👑 Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) August 9, 2023
FULL QUOTE:
“J.R. tried to and I’m sure but, it’s never got to me but at the same time that… https://t.co/pKtJw3bBra pic.twitter.com/HCw3TKJVxE
Nash was winning MVPs in his 30s, but Green’s production had really fallen off a cliff by that point. We can blame this on the era — there’s little doubt that a player of Green’s ability at 33 in the league today would still possibly be a max player. Instead, he offered up 5.7 points and 5.1 rebounds while Nash was going through his rookie season.
In Green’s first season with the team, he’d put up over 14 points and nine rebounds per game. He shared the court with Charles Barkley and Danny Ainge and Cedric Ceballos. He started the fourth most games of any player at 55, and was a real contributor on what was a fringe contender who lost in the conference semi-finals.
But by the time Nash was playing alongside him, Green was offering very little. Like many players on this list, it is sad that Green finds himself here at all. But that is a testament to the players the Suns did have around Nash throughout his time there. Players like Marcin Gortat, Grant Hill, Matt Barnes and Raja Bell may not have been stars. But they were better than Green.