How would Steve Nash have fared today? - Sports Illustrated Toronto Raptors News, Analysis and More

Would Steve Nash have been too unselfish playing today?

How would Steve Nash have fared in today's NBA?

The Washington Post's Ben Golliver and SB Nation’s Michael Pina discussed the topic on the latest Open Floor podcast.

(Listen to the latest Open Floor podcast here. The following transcript has been edited and condensed for clarity.)

Golliver: I think Steve Nash has been the subject of a lot of Twitter conversations this week because of this idea of volume in terms of shooting. Was he too unselfish? Would he be an incredible shooter if he took the same amount shots that Steph [Curry] takes or if he had a Trae Young type greenlight? What does his career look like? How do his teams function? Maybe he needed to be slightly more selfish.

If he came up 10 years later, the hardwiring of pass first and just the spectacular playmaker he was for his teammates is probably a little bit lessened because of a basketball cultural standpoint. He was still kind of growing up and going to college when guys like [John] Stockton were among the most revered point guards in the NBA. If point guards are more empowered by scoring as he is coming up and he starts to be more ingrained as a scorer like he was towards the latter part in his career—I think the sky would have been the limit for them.

I am not the world’s biggest Steve Nash fan but he was an insanely good shooter. He was a 50-40-90 type guy from every place on the court, three-point range, and the impact he had stretching defenses with his passing would have been amplified if he was more of a high-volume three-point shooting threat.

Pina: First I want to start off with Nash because I think it is fascinating that you are trying to take away arguably what is his best quality which is his selflessness.

Golliver: Come on Michael! Don’t put words in my mouth. I am not trying to take it away; I am just trying to tone it down.

Pina: That’s exactly what you are doing [laughs]. You are just trying to cut Nash down at the knees is uncalled for and I won’t stand for it.

Golliver: I am just saying instead of devoting his entire life to charity and we all know people who has done that—they move overseas to do the Peace Corp and never come back. All I am saying is, come back a little bit, right? Just engage in the capitalistic system just slightly and see where it takes you. Because he was just the type of guy who could just be both a Peace Corp volunteer and a millionaire. That’s all I am saying.