When A Young Steve Nash Compared His Impact With Michael Jordan Even After Getting Booed On His NBA Draft Night

Published 12/22/2021, 10:21 PM EST

The NBA has had some elite point guards grace the game. One of them is the Brooklyn Nets coach, Steve Nash who is considered one of the best players at the position. However, he wasn’t always a crowd favorite. The crowd’s reaction to his name was not the greatest. Nevertheless, Nash was confident as he compared his impact with Michael Jordan.

Nash is one of the guards who revolutionized the point guard spot. His impact helped shift the game to a more guard-based strategy. Nash remains one of the best playmakers to come around and he has now tried his hand at coaching with the Brooklyn Nets. However, he arrived in the NBA as a player on the back of some hate from the fans.

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The point guard appeared unfazed as he made his most iconic comment right after being drafted.

Steve Nash pulls out the Michael Jordan card

Nash was a part of the 1996 draft class in the NBA. However, he wasn’t one of the top-rated guys to come in the draft. Hence, when the Suns picked him up, the crowd welcomed his name with boos. While this may have rattled a young Nash, he kept the emotion suppressed.

After the draft, he spoke to the reporters and brought out his sense of humor.

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After the unwholesome welcome, Nash sat down with the reporters. When one of them popped the question about how he could help the team, Nash gave a humorous reply. He said: “Probably a little bit like Michael Jordan at first.”

Nash went on to live up to his talk eventually.

He went on to become one of the best players to don a Suns jersey. After a slow start with the Suns, he made his way to Dallas. However, he started to pick things up and ended up back with his former team. From there, things went uphill for him.

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Nash ended his career with 2 league MVPs and 7 All-NBA selections. Moreover, he ranks 4th on the all-time assists list in NBA history.

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The only thing that Nash failed to get his hands on was an NBA championship. His last attempt came when he joined Kobe and Shaq. However, that did not work out, as Nash called it quits at the age of 40.

Do you think Nash would be a great player if he didn’t have this chip on his shoulder? Let us know in the comments below.

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Written by:

Anuj Talwalkar is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. He is a student studying at NM College in Mumbai, aspiring to pursue sports management to follow his love for sports. Anuj started following the NBA last year, and he loves to combine his passion for writing with his understanding of basketball.

When A Young Steve Nash Compared His Impact With Michael Jordan Even After Getting Booed On His NBA Draft Night

Steve Nash pulls out the Michael Jordan card

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