Monday, March 5, 2007

Stockton or Nash?

John Stockton '89-'90
78 games
37.4 min/game
17.2 PPG
.514 FG
.819 FT
2.60 rebs/game
14.5 assists/game
2.65 stls/game
3.49 TOs/game

Steve Nash '06-'07
Already missed more than 4 games
35.3 min/game
19.1 ppg
.533 FG
.882 FT
3.3 rebs/game
11.7 assists/game
2.3 treys/game
3.8 TOs/game

Those are both stellar lines, and very hard to pick one over the other. What would you rather have? Nash's %s and threes? Or Stock's extra dimes and steals? The thing that puts Stock well over the top in my book is that he put up numbers in that ballpark for 19 straight seasons(playing in all 82 games for 16 of those seasons). Nash on the other hand is enjoying a late-in-the-career renaissance. For my money? I'd take Johnny Stock (AKA the Pasty Gangsta) every time. And he played in the era of giants. I know, Bronny, Wade, 'Melo, Kobe, these are legends. But I'm talking giants. Stockton had to play against the likes of Jordan, Magic, Bird, Zeke, Drexler, and Barkley. Don't get it twisted, some day Bronny and Wade will be mentioned in the same breath as those guys. But not yet. Bottom line, Stockton was as good as Nash if not better and never won the MVP, let alone twice (maybe thrice?) in a row.

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