Steve Nash: Ranking the Phoenix Suns Point Guard's 8 All-Star Seasons

Steve Nash, the 38-year-old point guard for the Phoenix Suns, was recently named to his eighth NBA All-Star team for the Western Conference.

When Nash finally hangs up the sneakers, he's going to go down as one of the best point guards to ever dribble a basketball up and down the court thanks to an impressive number of truly historic seasons. 

Although we're nowhere near the end of Nash's latest campaign with the Suns, where does this year rank amongst his eight All-Star seasons? 

Read on to find out.  

If nothing else, you may enjoy looking through some of the pictures of Nash as he and his hairstyles have changed throughout the years. 

8. 2001-2002

Age: 27

Team: Dallas Mavericks 

Team Record: 57-25 (Second in Midwest Division, Fourth in Western Conference)

Per-Game Stats: 17.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.0 blocks

Advanced Stats: 60.2 TS%, 20.7 PER, 9.9 WS

Steve Nash broke out the season prior to this one as he helped lead the Dallas Mavericks to their first playoff appearance in over a decade before they were steamrolled by the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals. 

The marketable point guard enjoyed playing alongside Michael Finley and a young Dirk Nowitzki as he posted what were at the time career highs in both points and assists per game. Once more, the Mavs made it to the playoffs and were eliminated in the semifinals once again, this time at the hands of the Sacramento Kings. 

7. 2009-2010

Age: 35

Team: Phoenix Suns 

Team Record: 54-28 (Second in Pacific Division, Third in Western Conference)

Per-Game Stats: 16.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 11.0 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.1 blocks

Advanced Stats: 61.5 TS%, 21.6 PER, 9.9 WS

Jumping forward to his second-most recent All-Star appearance, Steve Nash made vast improvements upon his already stellar play during the 2008-2009 season. 

Although his usage rate went up by 1.8 percent to 22.9 percent, Nash remained just as efficient from the field as he did the year before with his 61.5 true shooting percentage. But what was truly impressive was his 11 assists per game figure, which came with a league-leading 50.9 assist percentage, at that point the best mark of his career. 

His offensive rating of 121 indicates just how impressive this season was. Nash's contributions helped his Phoenix Suns score more points than any other team in the NBA, and they hung around the league's elite until a six-game loss at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals. 

6. 2002-2003

Age: 28

Team: Dallas Mavericks

Team Record: 60-22 (Second in the Midwest Division, Third in the Western Conference)

Per-Game Stats: 17.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.1 blocks 

Advanced Stats: 57.6 TS%, 22.6 PER, 11.6 WS 

Before delving into the statistics of this 2002-2003 campaign with the Dallas Mavericks, I'd just like to take a moment to recognize how only Steve Nash could pull off the look in the embedded picture. 

Although Nash's player efficiency rating and win shares were both more impressive in this season than in 2009-2010, his assist numbers were not. He averaged 3.7 less per game, and his assist percentage of 36.3 percent was much lower than its counterpart in the previous slide.

But what makes this year stand out was the care Nash took of the ball and his out-of-nowhere defensive performance.

The Canadian point guard may have averaged 2.8 turnovers per contest, but he did so while playing a lot of minutes and posting the highest usage rate of his career at 24.4 percent.

Despite the heavy dependence on him in the Suns offense, Nash still posted a career-best turnover percentage of 13.2 percent, which is ridiculous for an important point guard on a fast-paced team.

Couple that with Nash's defensive rating of 106 this season, the lowest of his career since he became a full-time starter, and you can see why this season takes precedence over 2009-2010.

Unfortunately, the stellar campaign had to end too soon once more as the Mavs lost to the San Antonio Spurs in a six-game battle for the right to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals.  

5. 2007-2008

Age: 33

Team: Phoenix Suns

Team Record: 55-27 (Second in Pacific Division, Sixth in Western Conference)

Per-Game Stats: 16.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 11.1 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.1 blocks

Advanced Stats: 64.1 TS%, 21.1 PER, 10.5 WS 

The biggest difference between this season and the one that took place five years earlier was a massive uptick in Steve Nash's shooting across the board. 

Nash shot 50.4 percent from the field, a ridiculous 47 percent from downtown (on 4.7 attempts per game) and 90.6 percent from the charity stripe. It all helped add up to that stellar 64.1 true shooting percentage that you can see above. 

Although he didn't lead the league in assists or assist percentage this season, Nash still posted impressive numbers in both categories. 

Getting to run the pick-and-roll with Shaquille O'Neal for the second half of the season, Nash helped his team win 55 games in an extraordinarily competitive Western Conference. His team would eventually bow out of the playoffs in the first round, defeated once more by the San Antonio Spurs. 

4. 2011-2012

Age: 38

Team: Phoenix Suns 

Team Record: On pace for 28-38 (Third in Pacific Division, 12th in Western Conference)

Per-Game Stats: 15.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 10.1 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.1 blocks

Advanced Stats: 65.7 TS%, 24.1 PER, 2.9 WS (on pace for 7.4) 

Please keep in mind that this entire slide operates under the assumption that Steven Nash maintains identical numbers for the rest of this season and the Phoenix Suns finish with the 28-38 record that they're on pace for, thus missing the playoffs. 

At age 38, playing with a roster that has to be in serious contention for the ignominious award of "Worst No. 2 through No. 12 players on a team," Nash is putting up insane numbers.

His true shooting percentage is the highest it's ever been and trails only Tyson Chandler, who's become a machine in that category, for the league lead.

Meanwhile, he's leading the league in assists per game, total assists and assist percentage. The last of the three is the most impressive since the aging floor general is up to 57.5 percent, easily the highest mark of his career. Just for perspective, Nash's second best came last year with 53.1 percent, and he barely broke past the elusive 50.0 barrier two other times.

His current pace in assist percentage would just barely top John Stockton for the greatest season of all time in that category.

The only thing keeping this season from rising above the MVP-winning campaigns is the lack of wins. And really, that can't possibly be put on Nash's shoulders.  

3. 2004-2005

Age: 30

Team: Phoenix Suns

Team Record: 62-20 (First in Pacific Division, First in Western Conference)

Per-Game Stats: 15.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 11.5 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.1 blocks

Advanced Stats: 60.6 TS%, 22.0 PER, 10.6 WS

Steve Nash rejoined the Phoenix Suns in free agency before the start of the 2004-2005 season, giving the team a veteran presence as promising young players Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson and Amar'e Stoudemire all looked likely to improve under Mike D'Antoni. 

With the run-and-gun "Seven Seconds or Less" offense in place, Nash led his team to the best record in the NBA and the most points per game of any team in a decade. 

He shot 50 percent from the field while leading the NBA in assists per game, racking up the most total assists and posting a sensational 49.2 assist percentage. 

For engineering the Suns' remarkable turnaround, Nash was named the league MVP for the first time in his career. He became the first Canadian to win the award and joined Bob Cousy and Magic Johnson as the only three point guards (at the time) to be named MVP. 

The Suns advanced to the Western Conference finals before they were knocked out by the San Antonio Spurs. 

2. 2005-2006

Age: 31

Team: Phoenix Suns 

Team Record: 54-28 (First in Pacific Division, Second in Western Conference)

Per-Game Stats: 18.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 10.5 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.2 blocks

Advanced Stats: 63.2 TS%, 23.3 PER, 12.4 WS 

Steve Nash's second consecutive season winning the MVP award was even more impressive than the first. 

When Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson were traded away, there was no chance of the Phoenix Suns having nearly as much success as they did during the 2004-2005 season. When Amar'e Stoudemire went down with a knee injury, there was even less of a chance. 

But there was still Nash. 

The best point guard in the league at the time, Nash put up career highs in field goal percentage, free throw percentage, points and rebounds. Plus he led the league in assists, assist percentage and true shooting percentage.

Against all the odds, Nash stood out once more.  

In the 2006 playoffs, Nash led a comeback from a 3-1 deficit against the Los Angeles Lakers, and then helped win a seven-game series against the other team that calls the Staples Center home. The magical run came to an end at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals. 

1. 2006-2007

Age: 32

Team: Phoenix Suns 

Team Record: 61-21 (First in Pacific Division, First in Western Conference)

Per-Game Stats: 18.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 11.6 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.1 blocks

Advanced Stats: 65.4 TS%, 23.8 PER, 12.6 WS 

Steve Nash barely lost out in the MVP voting to Dirk Nowitzki, but he still managed to post the most impressive All-Star season of his illustrious career in 2006-2007, even at the ripe young age of 32. I'm only saying "young" there because, well, it's Steve Nash we're talking about here. 

Nash put up a career-high 124 offensive rating, leading the league in the category, and his 110 defensive rating, while by no means even decent, was a better number for him than normal. 

He led the league in both effective field goal percentage and true shooting percentage. His 65.4 percent in the latter category not only led the league, but also barely loses out to his current rate for his career best. 

Nash's assist percentage of 50.1 percent led the league as well, but I'd you to stop and think about that number for a second. On a fast-paced team that scored points almost at will, Nash assisted OVER HALF of his team's made field goals while he was on the court.

That's really all you need to know about this season. I don't even need to mention that he averaged the second-most points per game of his career.