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Steve Nash announced, via twitter, that he's calling it a career.
I'm retiring from basketball. Thanks for all the love through the years. http://t.co/CMqDBSYIrr pic.twitter.com/iNTG6eap4D
— Steve Nash (@SteveNash) March 21, 2015
It's a sad day for the NBA, but an okay for the Los Angeles Lakers -- a team that no longer has to pay him next year. Steve Nash is the best Canadian basketball player ever, and was a great, funny, and talented ambassador of the NBA game all over the globe. His charity work, random skate boarding in NYC, and ability to bring NBA players together for a soccer game all show some of who he was. His funny TV commercials are nearly without peer.
I will never forget his leadership of Team Canada that beat, in the Olympics, Serbia (Peja Stojakovic, Sasha Danilovic, Zeljko Rebraca, etc). If not for Nash and the influence of teams like the Grizzlies and Raptors, Andrew Wiggins may have just been a really fact hockey player. So as a Canadian, I really do respect and admire what Nash has done to popularize my favorite sport in the country of my birth. (My home and native land, if you will.)
Nash was a two time MVP, and did countless good things on the court on offense. That alone puts him in the point guard pantheon. Where does he land, ultimately, is up to you. Top 20? Of course. Top 10? He has the hardware. Top 5? I believe this argument will lie on the relative age of the people talking about this ranking. Nash, for example, never made an NBA Finals, or was known for being a two way player. And I think he'll freely admit that he wasn't for the majority of his career.
Anyway, let's look at the Top 25 point guards of all time +5 active players.
| Player | # | Draft | G | Min | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | A:TO | SPG | PER | USG% | AST% | ORTG | OWS | OB+/- | VORP | |
| 1 | Bob Cousy | 3 | 1950 | 924 | 30,165 | 35.3 | 18.4 | 5.2 | 7.2 | -- | -- | 19.8 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2 | Oscar Robertson | 1 | 1960 | 1,040 | 43,886 | 42.2 | 25.7 | 7.5 | 9.5 | -- | -- | 23.2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 3 | Jerry West | 2 | 1960 | 932 | 36,571 | 39.2 | 27.0 | 5.8 | 6.7 | -- | -- | 22.9 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 4 | Lenny Wilkens | 6 | 1960 | 1,077 | 38,064 | 35.3 | 16.5 | 4.7 | 6.7 | -- | -- | 16.8 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 5 | Walt Frazier | 5 | 1967 | 825 | 30,965 | 37.5 | 18.9 | 5.9 | 6.1 | -- | -- | 19.1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 6 | Tiny Archibald | 19 | 1970 | 876 | 31,159 | 35.6 | 18.8 | 2.3 | 7.4 | -- | -- | 18.0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 7 | Dennis Johnson | 29 | 1976 | 1,100 | 35,954 | 32.7 | 14.1 | 3.9 | 5.0 | 2.20 | 1.3 | 14.6 | 20.1% | 20.4% | 107 | 39.9 | 0.3 | 23.6 |
| 8 | Maurice Cheeks | 36 | 1978 | 1,101 | 34,845 | 31.6 | 11.1 | 2.8 | 6.7 | 3.26 | 2.1 | 16.5 | 15.2% | 29.2% | 116 | 60.9 | 1.4 | 33.9 |
| 9 | Magic Johnson | 1 | 1979 | 906 | 33,245 | 36.7 | 19.5 | 7.2 | 11.2 | 2.89 | 1.9 | 24.1 | 22.3% | 40.9% | 121 | 110.6 | 5.7 | 77.4 |
| 10 | Isiah Thomas | 2 | 1981 | 979 | 35,516 | 36.3 | 19.2 | 3.6 | 9.3 | 2.46 | 1.9 | 18.1 | 25.3% | 37.4% | 106 | 41.2 | 2.4 | 37.5 |
| Player | # | Draft | G | Min | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | A:TO | SPG | PER | USG% | AST% | ORTG | OWS | OB+/- | VORP | |
| 11 | Fat Lever | 11 | 1982 | 752 | 23,814 | 31.7 | 13.9 | 6.0 | 6.2 | 3.19 | 2.2 | 17.8 | 19.7% | 26.4% | 109 | 29.4 | 1.8 | 33.7 |
| 12 | John Stockton | 16 | 1984 | 1,504 | 47,764 | 31.8 | 13.1 | 3.7 | 10.5 | 3.72 | 2.2 | 21.8 | 20.8% | 50.2% | 121 | 142.8 | 4.4 | 65.9 |
| 13 | Terry Porter | 24 | 1985 | 1,274 | 35,354 | 27.8 | 12.2 | 3.0 | 5.6 | 2.69 | 1.2 | 17.2 | 19.1% | 29.0% | 115 | 71.9 | 2.6 | 35.9 |
| 14 | Mark Price | 25 | 1986 | 722 | 21,560 | 29.9 | 15.2 | 2.6 | 6.7 | 2.72 | 1.2 | 19.6 | 22.8% | 36.1% | 116 | 51.9 | 4.1 | 22.7 |
| 15 | Kevin Johnson | 7 | 1987 | 735 | 25,061 | 34.1 | 17.9 | 3.3 | 9.1 | 2.97 | 1.5 | 20.7 | 22.6% | 38.8% | 118 | 70.4 | 3.5 | 28.0 |
| 16 | Mark Jackson | 18 | 1987 | 1,296 | 39,121 | 30.2 | 9.6 | 3.8 | 8.0 | 3.28 | 1.2 | 16.0 | 20.9% | 39.4% | 110 | 54.6 | 1.2 | 27.1 |
| 17 | Rod Strickland | 19 | 1988 | 1,094 | 33,634 | 30.7 | 13.2 | 3.7 | 7.3 | 2.79 | 1.5 | 18.0 | 21.7% | 37.3% | 108 | 49.0 | 1.7 | 30.9 |
| 18 | Mookie Blaylock | 12 | 1989 | 889 | 31,026 | 34.9 | 13.5 | 4.1 | 6.7 | 2.89 | 2.3 | 16.8 | 20.1% | 30.9% | 106 | 33.3 | 2.2 | 38.9 |
| 19 | Tim Hardaway | 14 | 1989 | 867 | 30,626 | 35.3 | 17.7 | 3.3 | 8.2 | 2.86 | 1.6 | 18.6 | 24.3% | 37.9% | 110 | 57.7 | 3.8 | 34.6 |
| 20 | Gary Payton | 2 | 1990 | 1,335 | 47,117 | 35.3 | 16.3 | 3.9 | 6.7 | 2.96 | 1.8 | 18.9 | 22.5% | 31.9% | 111 | 96.7 | 3.3 | 63.0 |
| Player | # | Draft | G | Min | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | A:TO | SPG | PER | USG% | AST% | ORTG | OWS | OB+/- | VORP | |
| 21 | Jason Kidd | 2 | 1994 | 1,391 | 50,111 | 36.0 | 12.6 | 6.3 | 8.7 | 3.02 | 1.9 | 17.9 | 18.8% | 35.8% | 107 | 138.6 | 2.4 | 78.2 |
| 22 | Allen Iverson | 1 | 1996 | 914 | 37,584 | 41.1 | 26.7 | 3.7 | 6.2 | 1.72 | 2.2 | 20.9 | 31.8% | 28.8% | 105 | 60.9 | 3.6 | 44.1 |
| 23 | Steve Nash | 15 | 1996 | 1,217 | 38,069 | 31.3 | 14.3 | 3.0 | 8.5 | 2.97 | 0.7 | 20.0 | 21.0% | 41.5% | 118 | 113.7 | 4.0 | 31.2 |
| 24 | Chauncey Billups | 3 | 1997 | 1,043 | 33,008 | 31.6 | 15.2 | 2.9 | 5.4 | 2.64 | 1.0 | 18.8 | 21.9% | 28.1% | 118 | 92.4 | 4.1 | 37.6 |
| 25 | Tony Parker | 28 | 2001 | 994 | 32,265 | 32.5 | 17.0 | 2.9 | 5.9 | 2.38 | 0.9 | 18.9 | 25.7% | 32.8% | 109 | 60.1 | 2.0 | 26.4 |
| 26 | Chris Paul | 4 | 2005 | 687 | 24,899 | 36.2 | 18.6 | 4.4 | 9.9 | 4.11 | 2.3 | 25.5 | 23.7% | 46.5% | 122 | 94.8 | 6.7 | 59.1 |
| 27 | Rajon Rondo | 21 | 2006 | 562 | 18,347 | 32.6 | 10.9 | 4.7 | 8.4 | 3.70 | 1.8 | 16.8 | 19.5% | 41.2% | 105 | 15.6 | 0.5 | 18.8 |
| 28 | Russell Westbrook | 4 | 2008 | 494 | 16,769 | 33.9 | 20.9 | 5.2 | 7.1 | 1.97 | 1.7 | 22.0 | 31.0% | 37.4% | 108 | 31.3 | 3.8 | 26.5 |
| 29 | Stephen Curry | 7 | 2009 | 402 | 14,117 | 35.1 | 20.8 | 4.1 | 6.9 | 2.17 | 1.7 | 21.4 | 25.7% | 32.3% | 114 | 36.9 | 5.4 | 24.2 |
| 30 | Kyrie Irving | 1 | 2011 | 247 | 8,540 | 34.6 | 21.0 | 3.6 | 5.7 | 2.02 | 1.4 | 21.2 | 28.1% | 30.8% | 111 | 20.1 | 4.7 | 11.3 |
Guys like CP3 are on many peoples' lists already and his stats are fine. But until he gets out of the second round, or actually wins something, he's just going to be another guy who gets a lot of stats on utterly meaningless teams. I'm not afraid to take a shot at CP3. Until we see a vine of "Chris Paul sends the ____ ____ to the NBA finals" I'm going to keep clowning him.
Nash played offense like Mozart wrote music. Offensively he was a genius, and now his playing days are done. He's part of the All-Time PG pantheon. By my count he can't be any better than 4th though. And that's a stretch.