Yesterday, NBA legends Michael Jordan, David Robinson and John Stockton were inducted into the Hall of Fame. This brought up the question to me; with his current career stats, is Steve Nash a Hall of Fame player?

Looking at the 3 major sports in the United States (NBA, NFL and MLB), the Basketball Hall of Fame is definitely the easiest to get into. The main difference with Basketball is the fact there is no specific designation for pro vs. amateur players. Therefore, great college players such Pistol Pete Maravich can get in primarily based on an amateur resume. Granted, Pete Maravich had a solid pro career (24 points and 5.4 assists per game), but without his amazing college statistics at LSU he would likely not be in the Hall of Fame.

Steve Nash is without the benefit of a huge collegiate career. During his 4 years at Santa Clara, he averaged 15 points and a little under 5 assists. In addition, to this point in his NBA career he is without a title which in other sports is almost a pre-requisite unless the person has records at his position I.E. Dan Marino. Steve Nash’s pro career totals are not overwhelming either. Thus far, Nash has averaged 14.4 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds per game for his career. However, to his credit Nash is a 2-time NBA MVP and his 5 year run in Phoenix has been incredible. Here are his statistics on the Phoenix Suns only: 17.2 points, 10.9 assists and 3 rebounds per game.

To accurately determine if these numbers are Hall of Fame worthy for a Point Guard, one must take a look at Point Guards already in the Hall of Fame.  Here is a list of some prominent Point Guards in the Hall of Fame with Career Points Per Game, Assists and Rebounds in order in parentheses:

Nate Archibald ( 18.8, 7.4, 2.3), Bob Cousy (18.4, 7.5, 5.2), Lenny Wilkens (16.5, 6.7, 4.7), John Stockton (13.1, 10.5, 2.7), Isiah Thomas (19.2, 9.3, 3.6), Walt Frazier (18.9, 6.1, 5.9), Calvin Murphy (17.9, 4.4, 2.1),  Oscar Robertson (25.7, 9.5, 7.5) and Magic Johnson (19.5, 11.2, 7.2).

As you can see from the above list, only 4 of these Hall of Famers had more assists per game than Steve Nash has thus far in his career. However, only one player (John Stockton) scored lower than Steve Nash in terms of his career. The major detriment to Steve Nash is the fact that all of the above players were defensively superior to Nash. However here is why Steve Nash is a Hall of Famer: 9th all-time in assists (total), 12th all-time in assists (average),  5th all-time in career 3-point %, and 2nd all-time free throw %. What clearly distinguishes Nash from all the other Hall of Fame players is that he is bar none the most deadly accurate shooting Point Guard in the history of the NBA.  When Steve Nash retires he will be in the NBA Hall of Hame as soon as he is eligible. Let’s hope he doesn’t retire any time soon and we can keep enjoying watching him play!!