The Steve Nash Effect: Eight Players Whose Careers Were Defined by Nash

The 2010 off-season is expected to be one of the more tantalizing ones in recent times, what with all the superstar free agents and their various objects of desire in terms of their next destinations. Akin to 27 other teams (other than Boston & LA, the NBA finalists who have a more important concern on mind), the Phoenix Suns are in a wait-and-watch mode, particularly since one of these superstar free agents happens to be Amare Stoudemire.

For a bunch of reasons, logic dictates that Amare should remain in Phoenix. The Suns’ system is a perfect fit for him, this has been his only team all through his career, he likes the city, the team is progressing well in terms of success, and Gentry and he have a good mentor-student equation.

But beyond all of those reasons, the single-biggest driver to why I think he needs to really think hard before even thinking of moving out is the fact that he plays alongside Steve Nash, quite simply the #1 rocket-booster to other players’ careers in the league today. In fact, this point should dictate free agency decisions not just for Amare, but also for other Suns’ free agents (Channing Frye, Lou Amundson) and for free agents from other teams looking at Phoenix as a potential destination.

To add factual logic and empirical evidence to this point, I researched through statistical data of several players that have played with Steve Nash as their teammate and then departed for supposedly greener pastures. Also included in this examination were a couple of players who play for the Suns now (Frye, Jared Dudley) but were with other teams until the last year or so. To drive home my point that this trend is player-driven and not system-driven, I also included Michael Finley who was Nash’s teammate in Dallas before Nash took off for Phoenix

The focus of this study is to measure the percentile difference in a players’ performance with and without Nash in the same jersey. For purposes of this article, I am illustrating the Before- and After- effects for 8 players, namely --- Quentin Richardson, Boris Diaw, Shawn Marion, Tim Thomas, Raja Bell, Michael Finley, Channing Frye, and Jared Dudley.

The results of the Before- and After- are simply astounding. Each of these eight players had a lot more personal success (and, in most cases, team success as well) while playing alongside Nash. Also, none of these guys was over 30, age-wise, when he left Nash, so the ‘over-the-hill’ factor did not matter either.

I realize that there are some exceptions to the overall trend, the most obvious of them being Joe Johnson. He elevated himself to star-level after leaving for Atlanta. But Johnson does not truly fall into this group because he was still an up-and-coming player while with the Suns and was part of a team that had five bonafide scorers.

So without further ado, here is the list of the Fortunate Eight rocket-fueled by Nash:

Quentin Richardson

With Nash (Last full season)
Points: 14.9
FG%: 39%
3PT%: 36%
Rebounds: 6.1
Assists: 2.0

After Nash (First full season)
Points: 8.2
FG%: 35%
3PT%: 34%
Rebounds: 4.2
Assists: 1.6

QRich is the quintessential benefactor of career rejuvenation due to Nash. As his stats indicate, he was a double-digit scorer for the 2004-05 Suns, the team that revolutionized the offensive side of the game in many ways. Q was a key cog to that wheel, and took and made more three-pointers than anyone in franchise history. How crucial was Nash to his success can be seen in two glaring data-points above --- (i) his scoring dropped by 6+ points in the season following that 2004-05 season while playing approximately same number of minutes; and , (ii) his three-point efficiency dropped considerably when you consider the fact that he made 2% fewer and took almost 70% fewer shots from three-point-land.

Today, Quentin Richardson is a fringe player in Miami and is known dubiously for unifying the Celtics towards their ongoing amazing playoff run due to his silly brawl with Paul Pierce

Boris Diaw

With Nash (Last full season)
Points: 13.0
FG%: 52%
3PT%: 41%
Rebounds: 5.9
Assists: 5.0

After Nash (First full season)
Points: 11.2
FG%: 48%
3PT%: 32%
Rebounds: 5.2
Assists: 4.0

Boris was an add-on to the Joe Johnson trade that Phoenix did not want to make. Atlanta thought enough of his ability (or lack thereof) to allot him 18-minutes of playing time before jettisoning him to Phoenix. What happened thereafter was a surprise to all. Diaw flourished for the Suns in 2005-06, and, in fact, was the team’s Center while Amare was lost for the season. After averaging 14/6/6 in 2006-07, Diaw’s play over the next two seasons in Phoenix was inconsistent, but occasionally thrilling.

Having said that, what he showed after being separated from Nash also revealed how much the latter meant to him. Overall shooting dropped by 4%, and his long-range prowess came down from 41% to 32%. He is still an across-the-board contributor for the Bobcats, but is nowhere the player he was while he had #13 as the orchestrator.

Shawn Marion

With Nash (Last full season)
Points: 19.9
FG%: 53%
3PT%: 35%
Rebounds: 11.0
Assists: 2.1

After Nash (First full season)
Points: 14.3
FG%: 46%
3PT%: 26
Rebounds: 11.0
Assists: 2.5

The Matrix is the prototype of the ‘star’ who thought a bit too much of his worth, and a bit too less of what was actually enabling that worth. Marion was the Suns’ most reliable contributor through the four seasons that he and Nash propelled the Suns towards offensive perfection. Relentless on the boards, active on screens, and an otherworldly vertical ability ensured that he was the benefactor of several of Nash’s razor-sharp assists.
Since whining and cribbing his way out of Phoenix, Marion has been a nomad, moving from Miami to Toronto and now to Dallas. His statistical trough since leaving Nash is noteworthy in the fact that his points-averaged dropped by almost 30%, 3PT shooting percentage by 25%, and overall FG% by almost 7%. Marion has arguably seen the most significant impact of not having Nash as his assist-man; which is even more astounding given that he has since played with Wade and Kidd.

Tim Thomas

With Nash (Last full season)
Points: 11.0
FG%: 44%
3PT%: 43%
Rebounds: 5.0
Assists: 0.7

After Nash (First full season)
Points: 11.0
FG%: 41%
3PT%: 38%
Rebounds: 5.0
Assists: 2.3

Thomas is best-known for his buzzer-beating 3-pointer that took Game 6 against the Lakers to overtime (the Suns won that game and then beat LA at home in Game 7 to take the series). What is subliminal is that he was a key portion of the team’s regular season as well, getting open for threes and making 43% of them, and by taking on some of the rebounding and post-activities from Kurt Thomas’ absence due to injuries.

Based on the clutch three-pointer, Thomas got a few takers in the offseason and was enticed by the Clippers for a ridiculously generous deal. Obviously, he has never been able to regenerate the impact since, even though he seems to be the least effected in the before- and after- list. His points average remained the same, and he actually started passing the ball better; what is stark is that his FG% (overall as well as 3PT) came down considerably since his time with the Suns.

Raja Bell

With Nash (Last full season)
Points: 12.0
FG%: 43%
3PT%: 47%
Rebounds: 3.7
Assists: 2.5

After Nash (First full season)
Points: 11.0
FG%: 44%
3PT%: 39%
Rebounds: 3.2
Assists: 2.4

Raja Bell is fondly remembered by Suns fans for a bunch of reasons --- he was the team’s crack-shooter from downtown; played hard-nosed defense; and famously clothes-lined Kobe in the 2006 series. At the same time, he also benefited significantly from being on the Suns, and particularly in being with Nash on the team. In his first full season playing for the Bobcats, Bell’s 3PT efficiency --- his chief prowess --- fell by eight percentage points, a significant drop for someone that takes that many three-point shots.

Bell has since been traded by Charlotte to the warriors, who then promptly waived him; he now finds himself without a team --- I personally think he will be a great one for the Suns to take a flyer on, especially if they are able to send Barbosa to clear some cap space for a major pick-up. More on that in a subsequent article.

Michael Finley

With Nash (Last full season)
Points: 20.3
FG%: 47%
3PT%: 41%
Rebounds: 5.8
Assists: 3.0

After Nash (First full season)
Points: 15.7
FG%: 42%
3PT%: 40%
Rebounds: 4.1
Assists: 2.6

This one was interesting to me as Nash’s effect on teammates has typically been chronicled during his Phoenix years; to me, his impact in Dallas was in no way lesser. Also, Nash’s detractors opine that the Nash effect is a result more of the system that Phoenix runs, rather than his innate ability as a point-man. The Finley case puts to rest that contrary thought.

In fact, it can be factually stated that Finley’s career has just not been the same since Nash left Dallas. In the season following Nash’s departure, Finley’s point average dropped by almost 23%, and his FG% fell by almost 10%. He played just one more season with Dallas and moved on with the Spurs as a key man off the bench

Channing Frye

With Nash (First full season)
Points: 11.2
FG%: 45%
3PT%: 44%
Rebounds: 5.3
Assists: 1.4

Before Nash (Last full season)
Points: 4.2
FG%: 42%
3PT%: 33%
Rebounds: 2.2
Assists: 0.4

Frye is one of two examples of players who are on the Suns roster right now and have had career-revitalizing boosts provided by Nash. The impact in numbers is just staggering in Frye’s case --- an uptick of over 62% in points, 25% in 3PT%, and almost 7% in overall shooting efficiency. What is especially noteworthy is that Frye averaged 4.8 3PT attempts this season, compared to 0.5 attempts last season!

Channing Frye needs to, has to, and absolutely must look at the content of this article to realize that he has to know better than to think that he can do anything substantial without Nash. He is a terrific asset for the Suns with his ability to space the floor as a big-man, his overall energy, and a likeable temperament. At the same time, he needs to realize that the Nash-driven Suns engine is primarily responsible for his rebirth as a viable NBA contributor. For that to continue, he has to stay a Sun.

Jared Dudley

With Nash (First full season)
Points: 8.2
FG%: 47%
3PT%: 46%
Rebounds: 3.4
Assists: 1.4

Before Nash (Last full season)
Points: 5.6
FG%: 46%
3PT%: 37%
Rebounds: 3.1
Assists: 1.0

Dudley is Exhibit #2 (after Frye) in the “Where the Heck Where They Before Nash” list. Largely a throw-in to make numbers work in the Jason Richardson-for-Diaw/Bell trade with Charlotte two seasons back, Dudley is now a very critical cog in the Suns bench mob. He is their 2nd best defender (after Hill), brings energy and hustle, and his long-range shooting is exemplary.

What is endearing about him is that he makes no bones about admitting that his career has been turned around due to Nash. Dudley went from 37% to 46% in 3PT shooting, and increased his overall points average from 5.6 to 8.2, an uptick of almost 32%. He will be a long-time Sun, given his modularity with the Suns’ system and his high basketball IQ.

As a matter of academic interest, I aggregated the Before- and After- results of the Nash effect for these eight (and for a several others that can be included in this discussion), and here are the aggregated total results.

* Players’ scoring aggregate had a 26% dip without Nash; their overall FG% dropped 6.7%; they were worse in 3PT% by almost 16%.
* Funnily enough, their rebounding numbers dropped by 18% when they stopped playing with Nash!