Monday, November 9, 2009

Steve Nash Future Hall of Famer?



The prodigal son of Canada was recently bestowed the Order of Canada. When he retires in the next 5 years will he have done enough to earn Hall of Fame status? As a Canadian citizen I am quite proud of what he has accomplished in the NBA, but it was a bit late in his career. Lets take a look at the argument from both sides, those who think he should be in the Hall of Fame and those who disagree.

Steve Nash Future Hall of Famer:
1. He won back to back Most Valuable Player awards (first Canadian to win an MVP award)
2. He made the players around him better. Over his 6+ seasons in Phoenix he has averaged 10+ assists per year.
3. By the time Steve Nash retires he will be top 5 for total assists, 3 pt% and FT%.
4. Every MVP winner eligible for the Hall of Fame has been inducted.
5. The man had a profound impact on the game of basketball. This point gives partial credit to Mike D'Antoni. Nash ran a high octane, small ball offense that made the game of basketball exciting for fans to watch again. Although no team has yet win with this style of playing, it's made the NBA a lot more entertaining. The success that Phoenix had with small-balling made this strategy a popular one amongst other teams in the league.

Why Steve Nash should not be inducted:
1. The Basketball Hall of Fame is not meant for players who were elite for a short period of time. By the time he retires he will have played just short of 20 years in the NBA. I'm guessing that he would have 5-6 years of Elite level play under his belt. This is under the assumption that his remaining years in the league will show a decline in his play. This is a strong argument against his induction.
2. He was just a product of Mike D'Antoni's run and gun style coupled with All-Stars like Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion.
3. He was a defensive liability.
4. He has yet to lead his team to win the Conference Finals or NBA Championship.

Those are the following arguments for and against his induction. I'm kind of on the fence about this one but if he can continue his elite level play in the NBA I think he will make it to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

3 comments:

TheRealJayHo said...

testing. I think it's fixed Robyn

Robyn said...

It's a hard question man. It's hard to leave out someone who has two MVPs (and he probably won't be left out). But it is also a good argument to say that he was a product of d'antoni's system, which, looking at Nate Rob last year, can make anyone a much better offensive player. He also is pretty terrible at defense. Still, two MVP awards will get him in. But if MVP awards get you in, does that mean Dirk will get in? I don't think he belongs.

TheRealJayHo said...

All past MVPs have been inducted to the Hall of Fame, but I think Dirk might be the first exception to this. Nash will probably make it because he has back to back MVP awards.