Phoenix Suns (1996–1998) After graduating with a degree in sociology, Both Johnson and Cassell had
NBA Finals experience, while Kidd was the second overall pick in the
1994 NBA draft and already an All-Star when he arrived at Phoenix. In his rookie season, Nash only managed 10.5 minutes a game, After the
1998 NBA draft, Nash was traded from the Suns to the Mavericks in exchange for
Martin Müürsepp,
Bubba Wells, the draft rights to
Pat Garrity, and a first-round draft pick (later used to draft future Phoenix teammate
Shawn Marion).
Dallas Mavericks (1998–2004) In Dallas, Nash established himself as a formidable point guard, beginning a decade as one of the game's top players. During his first year as a Maverick (the
lockout-shortened ) he started in all 40 games he played in, and averaged 7.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. The 19–31 Mavericks failed to make the
1999 playoffs, but in the
1999–2000 season, the team's prospects improved considerably. Nash missed 25 mid-season games due to an ankle injury, but came back to record six
double-doubles in the last month of play. In the , Nash posted career-highs of 17.9 points and 7.7 assists per game He was now an All-Star, increasingly appearing in television commercials and, with Finley and Nowitzki, a part of the Dallas Mavericks "Big Three". Dallas earned
another trip to the playoffs but lost again in the Semifinals to the
Sacramento Kings four games to one. Nash closely replicated his previous season's performance in the , averaging 17.7 points and 7.3 assists per game, Nowitzki and Nash led the Mavericks from a 14-game winning streak to open the season all the way to the Western Conference finals, where they lost to the eventual NBA champions, the
San Antonio Spurs four games to two. It was only the second Conference finals appearance in the franchise's history. The saw an offensively boosted Mavericks roster (with the acquisitions of
Antoine Walker and
Antawn Jamison) but a dip in Nash's scoring contributions. As a result, he was not selected for the All-Star and All-NBA team rosters even though he achieved new career highs in assists per game (8.8) and free throw accuracy (91.6%). After the 2003–04 season, Nash became a
free agent. He attempted to negotiate a long-term contract with Cuban, who was paying Walker, Finley, Nowitzki and Jamison nearly $50 million in combined salaries that season. Cuban wanted to build his franchise around the younger Nowitzki and did not want to risk signing the 30-year-old Nash to a long-term deal, and offered Nash a four-year deal worth about $9 million annually, with a fifth year partially guaranteed. The
Phoenix Suns on the other hand offered the point guard a six-year, $63 million contract. Nash was reluctant to leave Dallas and returned to Cuban to see if he would match the deal; Cuban did not, and Nash signed with the Suns for the . The Canadian would go on to win two
League MVP awards with Phoenix, and on a 14 June 2006 appearance on the
Late Show with David Letterman, Cuban wondered out loud, "...you know Steve's a great guy and I love him to death, but why couldn't he play like an MVP for us?"
Return to Phoenix (2004–2012) 2004–05 season Nash joined a Suns team which had emerging young players in
Shawn Marion,
Joe Johnson, and
Amar'e Stoudemire. In the season before Nash arrived, the Suns had recorded a 29–53 win–loss record, Nash's familiarity with this style combined with the athleticism of his teammates produced an NBA-best 62–20 record and a points-per-game average of 110.4, the highest in a decade. The catalyst of this turnaround, Nash averaged 11.5 assists per game while making 50.2% of his field goals and 43.1% of his three-pointers in the regular season. He edged
Shaquille O'Neal to win the
NBA MVP award, becoming the first Canadian to earn the honour, as well as the third point guard ever to be named MVP, along with
Magic Johnson and
Bob Cousy. Nash led the Suns to a 4–2 series win, The Suns were not expected to repeat their successful 2005 season, but with Nash directing the same high-tempo offence, the team compiled a respectable 54–28 record and won the
division title. The Suns were again the highest-scoring team in the league with seven players averaging double figures in points per game, In the last game of the season, Nash recorded a triple-double of 16 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in a 106–96 road win over the Trail Blazers. Having recorded career highs in points (18.8), rebounds (4.2), field goal percentage (.512) and free throw percentage (a league-leading .921), and leading the league with 10.5 assists per game, In the first round of the
2006 playoffs, Phoenix overcame a 3–1 deficit against the
Los Angeles Lakers and won the series 4–3. Nash received the most votes for first-team All-NBA and was joined by teammate Stoudemire; the two were the first teammates to make the first team since
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal in . In the
2007 playoffs, the Suns eliminated the Lakers in five games before losing 4–2 to the Spurs in the conference semifinals.
2007–08 season Nash played in 81 regular season games during the ; in this campaign, the Western Conference was especially competitive and he led the Suns to 55 wins and the sixth seed for the
2008 playoffs. Although there was a dip in his regular season output, Nash's shooting remained sharp; the accuracy of his shooting was on par with his 2005–06 MVP campaign (shooting at least 50% from the field, 40% from the three-point arc, and 90% from the free throw line). However, Nash continued to experience agony in the playoffs. Despite a mid-season trade that sent Shawn Marion to the
Miami Heat and brought four-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal to the team, the Suns were defeated in the first round of the
2008 playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs for the third time in four years. In the deciding Game 5, Nash was perceived to have suffered from "elimination-game jitters", and turned over the ball twice in the final two minutes of what was a tight contest.
2008–09 season Before the began, coach D'Antoni was replaced by
Terry Porter, who preferred a more defensive-oriented style of basketball. The Suns had difficulties adapting to this new system, and even a December trade involving sending stalwarts
Raja Bell and
Boris Diaw to the
Charlotte Bobcats for athletic
swingman Jason Richardson saw the team continue to struggle. Porter was then replaced by
Alvin Gentry in February after a 28–23 record, but the Suns were unable to secure the final seed for the
2009 playoffs, resulting in Nash missing the playoffs for the first time since he returned to Phoenix for his second stint.
2009–10 season Nash and the Suns opened the with a series of strong performances, going 8–1 in their first nine games (a franchise-best since ), with Nash producing two 20-assists games. On 21 January 2010, Nash was named as the starting point guard for the West for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. With him operating at the point, the Suns were the highest-scoring team in the league for the fifth season in a row, and were seeded third in the conference for the
2010 playoffs with 54 wins. Behind solid performances by Richardson and veteran
Grant Hill, the Suns defeated the
Portland Trail Blazers 4–2 in the first round of the playoffs, and swept the Spurs 4–0 in the second round. The Suns met the defending champions, Los Angeles Lakers, in the conference finals. After losing the first two games, Phoenix won the next two to tie the series. A
Ron Artest buzzer-beater in Game 5 pushed the Lakers one game closer to the Finals, and
Kobe Bryant's 37 points in Game 6 completed the defeat of the Suns.
2010–11 season The Suns underwent two major roster changes in the . During the pre-season, Stoudemire left for
New York, while longtime teammate
Leandro Barbosa was traded for
Hedo Türkoğlu.
Josh Childress, and
Hakim Warrick were also recruited to join the Suns. Not long after the season began, Türkoğlu, Richardson, and
Earl Clark were traded to
Orlando for
Vince Carter,
Marcin Gortat, and
Mickaël Piétrus, while rising star
Goran Dragić was traded to the
Houston Rockets for
Aaron Brooks. The Suns had difficulty being even a .500 team, and for the second time since Nash returned to Phoenix, the Suns failed to make the
2011 playoffs.
2011–12 season In February 2012, Nash was named to his eighth All-Star Game. At the time, he was leading the NBA in assists per game. On 21 April 2012, Nash passed
Oscar Robertson for career assists versus the
Denver Nuggets. Despite his stellar play the Suns missed the
2012 playoffs for the second consecutive time. He finished the season averaging 12.5 points and 10.7 assists per game on 53.2% shooting from the field (tying his career high). Near the end of the
2011–12 season, Nash was named the winner of the
PBWA's
Magic Johnson Award.
Los Angeles Lakers (2012–2015) 2012–13 season On 11 July 2012, the
Los Angeles Lakers acquired Nash in a
sign-and-trade deal with Phoenix. Nash also considered signing with New York or Toronto, but he decided that Los Angeles was the best fit for him and his family. Nash switched his jersey number, as his customary No. 13 was
retired by Los Angeles in honour of
Wilt Chamberlain. Nash,
an avid soccer fan, chose No. 10 to pay homage to
Glenn Hoddle,
Zinedine Zidane,
Lionel Messi and other soccer
playmakers who wore the number. Entering his 17th NBA season, Nash came to the Lakers with concerns over his defense and the health of his back. In the second game of the
2012–13 season, Nash suffered a non-displaced fracture in his left leg after a collision with
Damian Lillard of the
Portland Trail Blazers. He was expected to miss at least one week, but was out of the lineup for close to seven weeks. He was reunited with D'Antoni, who took over as Lakers coach after
Mike Brown was fired after a 1–4 start. On 22 December, Nash returned against the Golden State Warriors, helping the Lakers win their first overtime game of the season, 118–115, scoring 12 points with 9 assists in 41 minutes of play. The Lakers won three of the first four games after Nash returned. However, they lost their next four, including a 125–112 loss to Houston on 8 January 2013, when Nash assisted on an
Antawn Jamison jumper to become the fifth player in NBA history to reach 10,000 career assists.
Kobe Bryant was moved to defend the opponent's primary ball handler, freeing Nash from unfavourable matchups. Nash also struggled with
Dwight Howard to run the
pick and roll, a play that D'Antoni had expected would be a staple for the Lakers. D'Antoni moved Nash off the ball and made him more of a spot-up shooter, while Bryant became the primary facilitator on offense. Nash missed the last eight games of the season with a right hip injury that had also caused nerve damage in his right hamstring. The team qualified for the playoffs as the seventh seed, but were swept 4–0 by San Antonio in the first round. Nash missed the last two games of the series after recurring issues with his hip and hamstring.
2013–14 season During the
2013–14 season, Nash continued to suffer nerve problems stemming from his leg injury the prior season. In November 2013, he was sidelined for an estimated minimum of two weeks due to nerve root irritation. Nash returned on 4 February 2014, shooting 3-for-6 for 7 points. On 7 February 2014, his 40th birthday, he scored a season-high 19 points in a victory over the
Philadelphia 76ers. On 13 March, Nash was ruled out for the remainder of the season by D'Antoni. He was suffering from a recurrence of nerve problems stemming from an earlier collision to his left leg with Chicago's
Kirk Hinrich, and the Lakers wanted to give
Kendall Marshall and
Jordan Farmar more playing time. However, Nash returned on 21 March after a groin injury to Farmar that was expected to sideline him a minimum of two weeks.
2014–15 season In July 2014, Nash announced that the
2014–15 season would be his last. During the preseason, he experienced back pain, and further aggravated his back while lifting luggage. On 23 October, less than a week before the start of what would have been the 40-year-old Nash's 19th year in the NBA, he was ruled out for the season due to a recurring back injury. Nash only played in three preseason games before he started to feel more pain in his back. Nash spoke on injuring his back, stating: "Being on the court this season has been my top priority, and it is disappointing to not be able to do that right now. I work very hard to stay healthy, and unfortunately my recent setback makes performing at full capacity difficult. I will continue to support my team during this period of rest and will focus on my long-term health."
Retirement Nash announced his retirement from playing on 21 March 2015. Before the announcement, the
Cleveland Cavaliers told Nash's agent that they were interested in having him as a backup for
Kyrie Irving if Nash asked for a buyout. Nash refused due to health concerns and his wanting to retire as a Laker in gratitude for the opportunity given by the club. Nash was later approached by another former team of his, the
Dallas Mavericks, to have one last season with them instead, but he declined due to his aforementioned health concerns. ==Post-playing career==