Josh Howard On Why Steve Nash Was Hard To Defend
The former MVP had an elite skillset.
Steve Nash was one of the craftiest scorers in the NBA.
He was able to score in so many funky ways.
Like, he would twist like a contortionist to evade defenders while he’s in the middle of a layup.
There was this one play during his Phoenix Suns’ days where he sank a circus shot to put his team up 2 points with a handful of seconds left in the game.
The Suns visited the Los Angeles Clippers on this day (Oct. 28, 2009) and the game was tied at 107 with 12 seconds left.
Nash received an inbounds pass and was immediately hounded by Baron Davis.
But Nash ripped the ball through and created a little space for himself to ignite an attack.
So, Nash drove left. But Davis stuck to his side the entire time. And to make matters worse, when Nash got to the rim, Davis’ teammate, Al Thorton, stepped over to contest the shot.
However, Nash wasn’t worried.
He just contorted his torso a bit and angled it so that the ball was out of the defender’s reach. Then, he just scooped the ball into the basket.
This was the type of thing Nash was doing regularly.
And it was one of the things that made him one of the toughest players to defend, according to Josh Howard.
On an episode of The Forgotten Seasons podcast, Howard said that Nash knew how to use his body to get shots off.
“He knew how to use the chicken wing,” Howard told Jelani McCoy. “He knows how to use his shoulders and elbows to get his shot off. He’s a master at that.”
Howard added that Nash was also proficient at mid-range jump shots.
“Coming off one, two dribble pullup, man that thing was going in with Steve in his prime.”
However, what made Nash a dangerous scorer was his passing ability. Players -sometimes even teammates- didn’t know if he was going to dump the ball off or shoot it.
“And what he did passing -like, he could find you with you not even thinking,” Howard said. “He could find you without you even knowing.”
With the combination of these skills, Nash won the MVP title two times in a row and is regarded as one of the best point guards in NBA History.
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