Lakers' Steve Nash Moves into 3rd Place on NBA's All-Time Assists Leaderboard

Los Angeles Lakers guard Steve Nash appears to be nearing the end of the road, but with a five-assist performance in Tuesday's loss to the Houston Rockets, he at least got one final milestone out of the way, passing Mark Jackson for third place on the NBA's all-time assists leaderboard.

Nash matched Jackson's career total of 10,334 assists on a second-quarter dish to Lakers guard Jodie Meeks, who would also end up on the receiving end of No. 10,335 later in the same quarter.

Jackson, now head coach for the Golden State Warriors, played 17 NBA seasons for seven different teams, making just one All-Star Game appearance and only twice averaging double-digit assists.

Nash's career has been much more prolific, with the two-time MVP playing for just three teams over 18 seasons and making eight All-Star Game appearances in the process. The Canadian point guard averaged more than 10 assists in seven different seasons, but he was a bit of a late bloomer, which explains why he's only now passing Jackson.

When Nash signed with the Lakers before the 2012-13 season, he looked like a potential challenger to Jason Kidd (12,091 assists) for the second-place spot on the NBA's all-time assists leaderboard.

Ten or 20 injuries later, InsideSoCal.com's Mark Medina reports that Nash is likely done for the 2013-14 campaign, after aggravating an hamstring during Tuesday's milestone performance.

The Lakers probably won't use the stretch provision to waive Nash, but the point guard's declining health makes it fair to question whether we'll see him in another NBA game.