Stephen John (Steve Nash)

Steve Nash was born 7 February 1974 he is a South African-born Canadian professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After a successful high-school basketball career in British Columbia, he earned a scholarship to Santa Clara University in California. In his four seasons with the Broncos, the team made three NCAA Tournament appearances, and Nash was twice named the West Coast Conference

(WCC) Player of the Year.

Nash graduated from Santa Clara as the team's all-time leader in assists, and was taken as the 15th pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns. He made a minimal impact and was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in 1998. By his third season with the Mavericks, he was voted into his first NBA All-Star Game and had earned his first All-NBA selection. Together with Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley, Nash led the Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals the following season. However, he became a free agent after the 2003–04 season and returned to the Phoenix Suns.

In the 2004–05 season, Nash led the Suns to the Western Conference Finals, and was named the league's Most Valuable Player (MVP). He was named MVP again in the 2005–06 season, and missed out on a third consecutive MVP title to Nowitzki in 2006–07. Named by ESPN in 2006 as the ninth greatest point guard of all time, Nash has led the league in assists and free-throw percentage at various points in his career. He is also ranked as one of the top players in NBA league history for three-point shooting, free-throw shooting, total assists and assists per game.

Nash has been honoured for his contributions to various philanthropic causes. In 2006, he was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He also received the Order of Canada in 2007, and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Victoria in 2008.

phoenix suns era

Nash joined a Suns team which had emerging young players in Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson and Amar'e Stoudemire. In the season before Nash arrived, the Suns had recorded a 29–53 win–loss record,and they were projected to have another poor season. Head coach Mike D'Antoni favoured an up-tempo style of basketball; this required smaller and more athletic players with the capability to outrun and outshoot their opponents. Nash's familiarity with this style combined with the athleticism of his teammates produced an NBA-best 62–20 record and a points-per-game average of 110.4, the highest in a decade.The catalyst of this turnaround, Nash averaged 11.5 assists per game while making 50.2% of his field goals and 43.1% of his three-pointers in the regular season.He edged Shaquille O'Neal to win the 2004–05 NBA MVP award,becoming the first Canadian to earn the honour, as well as the third point guard ever to be named MVP, along with Magic Johnson and Bob Cousy.In the playoffs, Phoenix swept the Memphis Grizzlies in four games before meeting the Dallas Mavericks in the second round.Nash led the Suns to a 4–2 series win,and the Suns reached the Western Conference finals for the first time since 1993, but lost to the eventual NBA Champions and arch-rival, the San Antonio Spurs, in five games.

The next season, Stoudemire suffered a serious knee injury, and Johnson and Quentin Richardson were traded away.The Suns were not expected to repeat their successful 2005 season, but with Nash directing the same high-tempo offence, the team compiled a respectable 54–28 record and won the division title.The Suns were again the highest-scoring team in the league with seven players averaging double figures in points per game,and Nash was voted for the first time to start for the 2006 Western All-Star team.Having recorded career highs in points (18.8), rebounds (4.2), field goal percentage (.512) and free-throw percentage (a league-leading .921), and leading the league with 10.5 assists per game,Nash was named the league MVP for the second year in a row.In the first round of the playoffs, Phoenix overcame a 3–1 deficit against the Los Angeles Lakers and won the series 4–3.The Los Angeles Clippers were their Conference Semifinals opponents, and the Suns again needed seven games to clinch the series.For the second year in a row however, the Suns bowed out in the Conference Finals, this time to Nash's former team, Dallas.

Dallas Mavericks era (1998–2004)

It was in Dallas that Nash established himself as a formidable point guard, beginning a decade as one of the game's top players. During his first year as a Maverick (the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season) he started in all 40 games he played in, and averaged 7.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game.The 19–31 Mavericks failed to make the playoffs but in the 1999–2000 season, the team's prospects improved considerably. Nash missed 25 mid-season games due to an ankle injury, but came back to record six double-doubles in the last month of play.He finished the season with averages of 8.6 points and 4.9 assists per game.More importantly for the team, second-year teammate and friend Dirk Nowitzki was blossoming quickly into a top player, veteran Michael Finley was having an All-Star-calibre year, and the team's new owner, billionaire Mark Cuban, was bringing new energy and excitement to the franchise. Nash now had a supportive environment in which he could thrive.

In the 2000–01 season, Nash averaged 15.6 points and 7.3 assists per game in a breakout season.With Nash directing the team's offense, Nowitzki and Finley playing at their best, and the acquisition of All-Star Juwan Howard complementing the high-scoring trio, the Mavericks earned a playoff berth for the first time in more than a decade. Dallas lost in the Western Conference Semifinals four games to one to the San Antonio Spurs, but it marked the beginning of a memorable run for Nash and the Mavericks.In the 2001–02 season, Nash posted career-highs of 17.9 points and 7.7 assists per game and earned a spot in the NBA All-Star Game and on the All-NBA Third Team.He was now an All-Star, increasingly appearing in television commercials and, with Finley and Nowitzki, a part of the Dallas Mavericks "Big Three."Dallas earned another trip to the playoffs but lost again in the Semifinals to the Sacramento Kings four games to one.

Nash closely replicated his previous season's performance in the 2002–03 season, averaging 17.7 points and 7.3 assists per game,again earning All-Star and All-NBA Third Team honours.Nowitzki and Nash led the Mavericks from a 14-game winning streak to open the season all the way to the Western Conference Finals, where they lost to the eventual NBA champions, the San Antonio Spurs four games to two.It was only the second Conference Finals appearance in the franchise's history. The 2003–04 season saw an offensively boosted Mavericks roster (with the acquisitions of Antoine Walker and Antawn Jamison) but a dip in Nash's scoring contributions. As a result he was not selected for the All-Star and All-NBA team rosters even though he achieved new career highs in assists per game (8.8) and free-throw accuracy (91.6%).In the playoffs, the fifth-seeded Dallas failed to make progress yet again as the Sacramento Kings saw them off four games to one.

After the 2003–04 season, Nash became a free agent. He attempted to negotiate a long-term contract with Cuban, who was paying Walker, Finley, Nowitzki and Jamison nearly $50 million in combined salaries that season. Cuban wanted to build his franchise around the younger Nowitzki and did not want to risk signing the 30-year-old Nash to a long-term deal, and offered Nash a four-year deal worth about $9 million annually, with a fifth year partially guaranteed. The Phoenix Suns on the other hand offered the point guard a six-year, $63 million contract. Nash was reluctant to leave Dallas and returned to Cuban to see if he would match the deal; Cuban did not, and Nash signed for the Suns for the 2004–05 season. The Canadian would go on to win two League MVP awards with Phoenix, and on a 14 June 2006 appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, Cuban wondered out loud, "... you know Steve's a great guy and I love him to death, but why couldn't he play like an MVP for us?"

Lakers get Nash

On 11 July 2012, the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Nash in a sign-and-trade deal with Phoenix.Nash also considered signing with New York or Toronto, but he decided that Los Angeles was the best fit for him and his family.Nash switched his jersey number, as his customary No. 13 was retired by Los Angeles in honor of Wilt Chamberlain.Nash, an avid soccer fan, chose No. 10 to pay homage to Glenn Hoddle, Zinedine Zidane and other soccer playmakers who wore the number.In the second game of the 2012–13 season, Nash suffered a non-displaced fracture in his left leg after a collision with Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers. He was expected to miss at least one week,but was out of the lineup for close to seven weeks.He was reunited with D'Antoni, who took over as Lakers coach after Mike Brown was fired after a 1–4 start.On 22 December, Nash returned against the Golden State Warriors, helping the Lakers win their first overtime game of the season, 118–115, scoring 12 points with 9 assists in 41 minutes of play.The Lakers won three of the first four games after Nash returned. However, they lost their next four, including a 125–112 loss to Houston on 8 January 2013, when Nash assisted on an Antawn Jamison jumper to became the fifth player in NBA history to reach 10,000 career assists.

Kobe Bryant was moved to defend the opponent's primary ball handler, freeing Nash from unfavorable matchups.Nash also struggled with Dwight Howard to run the pick and roll, a play that D'Antoni had expected would be a staple for the Lakers.D'Antoni moved Nash off the ball and made him more of a spot-up shooter, while Bryant became the primary facilitator on offense.