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YEAR IN REVIEW: ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Slam-dunk winner
CBC Sports Online | Dec. 20, 2005
Thanks in large part to Steve Nash, the Suns finished the regular season with an NBA-best 62-20 record.
(CP PHOTO) |
He's shaggy-haired, humble and heroic. And he's
also CBC Sports Online's unanimous winner as athlete of the year.
Basketball star Steve Nash turned around an NBA franchise, scooped
up multiple NBA honours and did it all in an unselfish, endearing
manner.
When the six-foot-three-inch point guard from Victoria captured the
NBA's most valuable player award last May, he etched his name in the
record books.
The NBA's top individual award – a prize normally bestowed on
towering, hard-court-savvy Americans – was handed to a Canadian
for the first time ever.
Not impressed? Put it in these terms: Nash winning the NBA's MVP is
like a non-Canadian winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as Stanley Cup
playoff MVP. It almost never happens.
The mop-topped Victoria native is also only the fourth point guard
to win the award after Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson and Bob Cousy.
"I think it is one of the greatest achievements in the history of
Canadian sports," said Jay Triano, an assistant coach with the Toronto
Raptors and the former Canadian national team coach.
Like Wayne Gretzky's everlasting effect on hockey or Mike Weir's win
at The Masters, Nash's play in 2004-05 – culminated by the top
player honour – captured the hearts of Canadians.
Canadian fans have been familiar with Nash's heroics for some time.
He regularly gives up his off-season to play for his country while
other Canadian NBAers decline.
Thanks largely to Nash's unmatchable energy, grit and desire, Canada
catapulted back to the international basketball scene at the 2000
Sydney Olympics, making its first appearance at the Games in 12 years.
Nash led Canada to an impressive 5-2 record and seventh-place finish
at the tournament, including upset wins over Australia and world champion
Yugoslavia. A trip to the medal round was squashed by a five-point
loss to France in the quarter-final.
Nash wore his heart on his sleeve after that loss and his emotion
won the hearts of Canadian basketball fans.
His popularity is also on the rise south of the border. After winning
the 2005 NBA all-star skills competition, Nash added a little soccer
flare to Suns teammate Amare Stoudemire's jams in the slam dunk contest.
In a preliminary-round dunk, Stoudemire bounced the ball off the backboard
to Nash, who headed the ball in an alley-oop for his teammate, who
did a half-turn in the air and slammed it down for the wildest ovation
of the competition.
Nash didn't come close to leading the league in scoring in 2004-05,
but he received most of the credit for turning the Suns around.
With the 31-year-old guard at the helm, the Suns played an up-tempo
style and blew opponents away with their offence en route to the best
record in the league.
Nash led all NBAers with 11.5 assists per contest and his energetic
play largely contributed to the Suns league-leading average of 110
points per game (the most in the NBA in the past decade).
"I think it's more like a team award," said Stoudemire. "But Steve
is the motor. He has the ball in his hands 80 per cent of the time,
and a guy like Steve, he gets everyone involved."
Even Nash can't believe someone from his background could become the
NBA's MVP.
"I don't really know what to make of it," he said. "I had one scholarship
offer, and I didn't have any NBA players in my neighbourhood. I don't
even think I dreamed about this award."
After spending four years at California's Santa Clara University,
Nash became the highest Canadian selection ever in the NBA draft when
he was chosen 15th overall by the Suns in 1996.
He certainly didn't show the makings of a future all-star at the start
of his professional career. He received very little playing time in
his first two years in Phoenix. When he was traded to Dallas two years
later, he struggled with injuries and played poorly.
Nash finally broke out in 2001 and helped lead the Mavericks to unprecedented
success over the next four seasons before signing a five-year, $65-million
US contract with the Suns in 2004 as an unrestricted free agent.
Nash made an immediate impact in desert country, raising the Suns'
win total to 62 from 29 last season – an amazing 33-win improvement.
But Nash and the Suns couldn't carry over that performance in the
post-season.
Phoenix cruised through the first two rounds of the NBA playoffs,
only to lose 4-1 to eventual NBA champions San Antonio Spurs in the
Western Conference Final.
Seven months after the playoff heartbreak, Nash is back, once again
showing that he is king of the court.
Stepping up his game with Stoudemire’s absence duie to a knee injury,
Nash leads the league in assists and assists per game and is also
the Suns' second-leading scorer, averaging 18.2 points per game.
He was also recently awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's most
outstanding athlete.
It was just one more honour for the modest British Columbia native.
"There's no better feeling really than to make your whole country
proud," Nash said after receiving his NBA MVP Trophy. "It's an incredible
amount of positive energy coming my way."
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Born:
Born: Feb. 7, 1974 in Johannesburg, South Africa
Drafted:
15th overall in 1996, by the Phoenix Suns
Athletic family:
John Nash (father) played professional soccer; Martin Nash (brother) currently plays professional soccer for the Vancouver Whitecaps and has played for the Canadian national team
Traded:
By Suns on June 24, 1998, to Dallas Mavericks for Martin Muursepp, Bubba Wells, draft rights to Pat Garrity, and a 1st round selection in 1999 (used to pick Shawn Marion)
Other MVP point guards:
Magic Johnson (1986-87, 1988-89, 1989-90), Oscar Robertson (1963-64), Bob Cousy
(1956-57)
Other international MVPs:
Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigeria (1993-04)
Other Suns MVPs:
Charles Barkley (1992-93)
Political views:
Caused a stir at the 2002 NBA All-Star Game in Philadelphia by wearing an anti-war T-shirt to weekend festivities
Known for:
Winning the 2005 NBA all-star skills competition and adding a little soccer flare to Suns teammate Amare Stoudemire's jams in the slam dunk contest. In a preliminary-round dunk, Stoudemire bounced the ball off the backboard to Nash, who headed the ball in an alley-oop for his teammate, who did a half-turn in the air and slammed it down for the wildest ovation of the competition.
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