We've truly reached peak silly season in the NBA, with anybody and everybody filling up air time before training camps open with all manner of ridiculous takes. Like this one from Robert Horry - who doesn't believe the Phoenix Suns can win 50 games this season - despite winning 49 last time out.
The Suns appear to be an easy target right now, after underperforming so badly in the playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves. This despite having a new head coach, a remade bench unit and two of the top 12 players in the world in Devin Booker and Kevin Durant on their roster.
In fact not even Suns legends are immune from being targeted, with franchise legend Steve Nash coming in for some unexpected criticism.
Nash won a pair of MVP awards while with the organization - and if he was on the roster right now - they'd be favorites to win what would be a first ever championship. Those MVPs could certainly be disputed, but thing you could never accuse the Canadian of being when on the court was selfish and a ball hog.
Yet somehow - and quite bizarrely - NBA legend Rasheed Wallace has placed the blame of over-dribbling and taking too much out of the ball on the shoulders of Nash. Huh? Speaking on his "Sheed & Tyler" podcast recently, Wallace revealed that he thought that Nash's playing style had rubbed off on today's players in the league in a negative way.
“Steve Nash is the first one to really start the unnecessary multiple dribbling…Now, that’s what everybody think they can do..”
— The Sheed & Tyler Show (@SheedXTylerShow) September 9, 2024
Rasheed Wallace says Steve Nash started over dribbling in the NBA 👀
⬇️: https://t.co/JOKadqHFxz pic.twitter.com/0PYIhtLTOn
"Steve Nash was the first one to really start the unnecessary, multiple dribbling s**t. He can get away with it because he was effective, and he could get away with it because he was who he was and who he played for at the time."
On the surface this looks like Wallace is taking shots, but perhaps when you unpack it this is more of an underhanded compliment than anything else. Wallace is saying that Nash was so good that he could get away with doing whatever he wanted with the ball in hand. He did also have some sick handles - they truly were great, great days in The Valley - but did he over-dribble?
How could that be possible when Nash currently has the fifth most assists in the history of the NBA, at 10,335? Not only that, but he piloted an era of Suns basketball quite literally dubbed "seven seconds or less", so it's not like he had the ball in his hands for 20 seconds before either hoisting up a shot or landing a teammate with a tough look. Wallace wasn't done there though.
"Now, that's what everybody think they can do. I could dribble 15 times to pass it. What the f*** are you doin'?" Delivered as only Wallace can - and while plenty of players today dribble plenty with the ball in hand - it seems unfair to say Nash started this trend. He was elite at getting into the paint and then kicking it back out for open looks, which meant dribbling but not for the sake of it.
When out in the open court he was always quick to get the ball out of his hands and into that of somebody in a better position - as his assist total clearly points out - and if he held onto the ball it was only to set up a play if the Suns couldn't run in transition. What else would you want your point guard to do in this situation?
Wallace does have a point here, but how he has made it by using Nash as the example just feels wrong. Right now he's possibly the best player in franchise history - although Booker is gaining on him fast - and over-dribbling is not a trait you ever hear brought up when talking about the career of Steve Nash. Hurry up training camp, so we actually have something to talk about.