Steve Nash is a former NBA point guard who played for three teams during his 18-year career. The teams he played for during his time in the NBA were the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, and Los Angeles Lakers. He’s known for his high basketball IQ and excellent court vision. Nash was an 8-time NBA all-star selection, 3-time All-NBA first team selection, and 2-time MVP of the league. It was also recently announced that Nash would be apart of the 2018 NBA Hall of Fame inductees.
Let us take a look at how his on-court accomplishments affected his wallet.
Steve Nash net worth as of 2018: $95 million
I’d say his carer turned out to be a very fruitful one for his bank account. Starting with the 2000 NBA season, Nash saw a steady increase in his salary. His per year salary rose from $5.5 mil to $8 mil to an eventual high of $13,125,000 during the 2009-2010 NBA season.
Early life and college
Steve Nash was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, but shortly after birth, his family moved to Canada where he would be raised and become a citizen of the country.
Nash’s first love for sports did not come on the basketball court but rather on the soccer field and in the ice rink. His father played professional soccer and was influenced by his brother to play ice hockey while they were growing up together. It is Canada; it’s almost like a right of passage that you have to step on the ice at least once in your life. It wasn’t until his teenage years that basketball became apart of his life.
Nash found it hard to garner enough attention from highly touted basketball programs. He was eventually awarded a scholarship from Santa Clara University. Nash made an impact on the university from the jump. Santa Clara won the WCC tournament and awarded entry into the NCAA tournament. In the tournament, Nash led the Broncos to a huge upset win over 2 seed Arizona.
Steve Nash would ultimately play in three NCAA tournaments during his time at Santa Clara. He won conference player of the year twice. His best season was his junior year when he averaged 20.9 points, 6.8 assists, and shot over 40% from both the field and from three-point range.
NBA career 1996-2004
Steve Nash drafted by the Phoenix Suns in the 1996 draft. The 1996 draft class is considered one the deepest in history. Other players selected that year include Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Ray Allen, Stephon Marbury, and Ben Wallace.
This would be the first of two stints with the Suns organization. During his first go around with the Suns it’s safe to say it was uneventful. Nash was not utilized much and only averaged a little over 10 min per game in his rookie campaign. He would only last another season with the Suns before being traded to the Dallas Mavericks.
The next six years of his life would be spent in a Mavericks uniform. By his third season with the Mavericks Nash was finally fully living up to his potential. Nash was paired up with star Dirk Nowitzki to create a dynamic one-two punch. He saw his points per game rise to over 17 ppg and selected to two all-star teams. He would eventually become a cap casualty and the Mavericks decided to build around Nowitzki instead of Nash.
NBA career 2005-2015
During these years is where Steve Nash built a legacy that will last forever. After hitting free agency, Nash signed with the Phoenix Suns and thus started his second and much more productive stint with the organization.
The head coach for the Suns at the time was Mike D’Antoni who runs a fast up-tempo offense with less focus on the defensive side of the court. This system was a perfect match for Nash’s skill set. What happened next will go down into NBA history books.
Nash won both of his MVP awards during this time with the Suns; he is the first Canadian player to be awarded the honor. Nash would lead the NBA in assists five times during his time with the Suns. Amari Stoudemire was the Robin to Nash’s Batman during these productive seasons in Pheniox. The duo would make the playoffs five times together. The deepest playoff run coming in 2006 where the Suns fell in the to Nash’s former team the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals.
After the 2011-2012 season ended Nash was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. He would spend the remaining two years of his storied NBA career with the franchise. His time with the Lakers was marred by injury and lack of chemistry with players Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard. Nash would retire after the 2014-2015 season.
Steve Nash will be inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame with the 2018 class. A perfect end to a great career.
