Nash retired with over 10,000 assists, averaging 8.5 assists per game. Marion and Stoudemire were fantastic players, but if not for the artistry of Nash’s passes, their career numbers would be considerably less. Nash’s crafty passing made household names out of players such as Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire. It was in Phoenix that Nash won back-to-back NBA MVP awards. The vast majority of Nash’s 8-season career was spent as a member of the Phoenix Suns. Johnson nearly averaged a triple-double over his career in the NBA scoring 19.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG, and 11.2 APG. Magic and his amazing passes led his Lakers to 5 NBA championships.
Johnson’s passes made stars and earned Hall of Fame careers for names like James Worthy, Byron Scott, Michael Cooper, and of course, Abdul-Jabbar. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was known to Lakers’ fans prior to Magic’s arrival. Racking up assist totals was not just a statistic for Magic, he made others around him better with his ability to pass the ball. With the basketball in his hands most of the time, Johnson controlled the pace and direction of each game. During a time of physicality, and dominant big men, Magic brought an aspect to the game that displayed a different type of skill. Magic’s Los Angeles Lakers had a plethora of athletic and talented players on the roster for Johnson to find in a manner only he could.
Johnson led one of the most exciting eras of the NBA with what was known as “Showtime”, named after the fast-paced breakouts after every rebound. No-lookers and long bounce-passes through traffic are only a couple of examples of the type of spectacular assists that Magic made over his storied NBA career. Magic had a flare for the dramatic with his tasty dishes to teammates, especially in transition. Magic Johnson When a player’s nickname is “Magic”, and it has almost replaced their given name, you know we are talking about a special player.Įarvin “Magic” Johnson earned the name Magic from his ability to pass the ball like nobody else could. Stockton averaged 10.5 APG, and if you were to ask him, he would admit that Malone was the beneficiary of most of those dimes.Ģ. John Stockton had over 15,000 assists, a record that still stands in the NBA today. Karl Malone piled up the point totals over the years, but most of those baskets came at the hand of his Jazz teammate John Stockton. Malone grabbed most of the headlines for the Jazz, and rightfully so.
Stockton led many breaks in which he could have scored, but he would slow down to find Malone streaking in for a signature dunk. When he was needed to score or defend, Stockton was there, but making a great pass was a win for him. The dynamic duo created havoc with their execution of the “pick” and “roll” offense. “Stockton to Malone”, was a sentence that was synonymous with the words “pass” or “assist”. Stockton had a freight train of a finisher in his Hall of Fame teammate Karl Malone during their time together on the Utah Jazz.
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