Steve Nash is considered one of the best passers to ever grace the game after earning five single-season assist crowns and ranking fourth all-time on the NBA career assists list. His playmaking served as a historic engine and the Hall of Fame point guard's teams ranked No.1 in the league in offensive rating in eight out of nine seasons (2002-07, 2009-10). Born in South Africa, Nash's family later moved to Canada, where they eventually settled in Victoria, B.C. The son of a professional soccer player, Nash developed an early love for soccer and ice hockey before trying out basketball as a young teenager. Career A native of Canada, Nash was drafted in the first round by Phoenix after starring at Santa Clara. Nash played backup point guard his first two seasons behind the Suns' backcourt of Jason Kidd and Kevin Johnson. Nash was traded to Dallas in 1998 in exchange for three players and a future first-round pick. Phoenix used that pick on Shawn Marion, to whom Nash later dished 823 assists over 3 1/2 seasons with the Suns (2004-08). Nash got off to a rough start in Dallas and his initial play after becoming the team's starting point guard was so bad that Mavericks fans booed him during a March game against Houston in 1999. That disapproval disappeared quickly when Nash nearly doubled his scoring during the 2000-01 campaign and followed that with a pair of All-Star appearances in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. His breakout 2000-01 season helped Dallas snap a 10-year playoff drought. Alongside fellow future Hall-of-Famer Dirk Nowitzki, Nash led the Mavericks to a then-franchise record 60 wins and the Western Conference finals in 2003, where they fell to eventual champion San Antonio in a hard-fought six-game series. Despite his success in Dallas, the Mavericks were reluctant to meet Nash's price in free agency in the 2004 offseason. The Suns made a better offer, making for a homecoming of sorts for Phoenix's former lottery pick. Nash was an immediate success in Phoenix, leading the team to then-NBA records in offensive production and helping the team tie a franchise record with 62 wins in the 2004-05 season. The initiator of Phoenix's "seven seconds or less" offense, Nash formed an All-Star trio with Marion and Amar'e Stoudemire. Nash's quintessential role in Phoenix's superbly fast and efficient offense won him back-to-back MVP awards in 2004-05 and 2005-06. In both seasons, the Suns made the Western Conference finals, but ultimately lost both series. With Nash at the helm, Phoenix won 54 games or more in each season from 2005-10, save for the 2008-09 season. They made the Western Conference finals three times in that span ('05, '06, '10). After eventually being traded to the Lakers to finish his career, Nash made multiple appearances on the Suns' franchise leaderboards, including games played (third), 3-pointers made (first), assists (first), steals (10th), points (seventh) and free throw percentage (first). The 6-foot-3 point guard ranks fourth all-time in assists, second in free throw percentage, and 11th in 3-point percentage. Nash was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.