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bigg mike wrote:KJ beats Nash in every category statistically speaking and even took the Suns to the Finals against MJ & the Bulls in 93. Also had a legendary dunk on Hakeem back in the day.

TASTIC wrote:I think if you put KJ in today's league he'd do 25 and 12 with no hand checking. Dude was LIGHTNING quick and that mid range jumper was money. Think Derrick Rose but better conscience in terms of hoisting shots

Nash though, man I love that guy. I told my wife, I may cry a little when he leaves the Suns...will be like losing a family member. No other player in any sport has surprised me so much and made me go 'wow that guy is amazing', which is quite crazy considering I've never seen him dunk or made any spectacular blocks etc or the usual 'wow' factors of athleticism and hops etc.

So to answer the question...I can't...

TASTIC wrote:Nash though, man I love that guy. I told my wife, I may cry a little when he leaves the Suns...will be like losing a family member.

cmw17 wrote:No contest. Nash easily. He means much more to the team, he ran the whole show. without KJ, Suns would have still been a pretty good team. without Nash, Suns would be historically bad, as you will see very soon.

On February 28, 1988, Johnson (along with his teammates Mark West and Tyrone Corbin) was traded to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for the forward Larry Nance, Mike Sanders and a future draft pick. Phoenix also received a draft pick in the trade – one that was used the next season to select the future stalwart swingman Dan Majerle. Adjusting rapidly to the change of scenery and much-increased playing time, Johnson excelled and the league named him the NBA Rookie of the Month for April 1988, when he averaged 15.1 points, 10.6 assists, 5.6 rebounds, and an 86.4 free-throw percentage.

The next year in his first full season with Phoenix, Johnson blossomed into one of the game's elite players, averaging 20.4 points, 12.2 assists, a 50.5% field goal percentage, and an 88.2% free throw percentage to win the NBA's Most Improved Player Award. Indeed, Johnson joined Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas as the only players in NBA history to average at least 20.0 points and 12.0 assists in a season, a fact that holds to this day. The 1988–89 campaign, in which the perennially losing Suns reversed their fortunes and rocketed from 28 wins to 55 (second-most in the West), constituted the first of three straight seasons in which Johnson averaged at least 20 points and 10 assists, joining Oscar Robertson and Isiah Thomas as the only players in league history to accomplish that feat for three consecutive seasons. From 1989 to 1991 he received berths on the All-NBA Second Team, earning Third Team honors in 1992 and Second Team honors again in 1994. Johnson also was selected to the NBA All-Star Team in 1990, 1991, and 1994 and made the playoffs every year of his career after his rookie season. In the 1991 NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte, Johnson wore no. 41 instead of his familiar #7. NBC announcers Bob Costas and Mike Fratello speculated it was to honor teammate Mark West, who was not picked to participate in the 40th All-Star Game, despite his valuable contributions on the boards and in the trenches for the Suns on a nightly basis.

Kevin Johnson started the 1991 All-Star Game alongside Magic Johnson in the Western Conference back-court and in anticipation of the game, the Sporting News asked whether Kevin Johnson may have surpassed Magic as the best player on the court. The previous spring in the 1990 Western Conference Semifinals, Kevin Johnson led the Suns past Magic's league-best, 63-win Lakers by a tally of four games to one, winning twice in Los Angeles. While Magic (the NBA's MVP for the third time in four years) averaged 43.0 points and 8.5 assists in the last two games of the series in a desperate attempt to salvage the Lakers' season (actually scoring 43 points in both contests), Johnson responded by averaging 33.5 points and 12.0 assists as the Suns won both games. In the fourth quarter of Game Five at the Great Western Forum, with the Lakers staring at their earliest playoff exit in nine years, Magic scored 7 points (3-5 FG, 1-2 FT) with 2 assists, 3 turnovers, and 0 steals, while Kevin Johnson poured in 14 points (5-8 FG, 4-4 FT) with 3 assists, 0 turnovers, and 2 steals. With 3:55 remaining, the Lakers still led 95-90, but from that point forward, Johnson scored 8 points (2-2 FG, 4-4 FT) with 1 assist, no turnovers, and 1 steal, while Magic mustered zero points (0-2 FG [including an air ball], 0-1 FT), 0 assists, 0 steals, and 1 turnover).

"Kevin Johnson, who, who really came to the top of this league in the 1990 playoffs when he waxed Magic Johnson and the Lakers in the early rounds. Kevin Johnson—and the Suns—taking care of business in 1990, four to one over the Lakers ... Kevin Johnson just totally outplaying Magic." Thus, for the only time in a season where Magic played at least 40 games, his Lakers failed to reach the Western Conference Finals, while Johnson's Suns advanced to the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive season.

bwgood77 wrote:The year before we traded Nance for KJ, we won like 28 games.

bwgood77 wrote:Some may argue that Nash was better in prime by saying he won mvps, but he never would have won any if he was playing in the Jordan and Magic era.

mybloodisorange wrote:They are both amazing but defensively KJ wasnt as much as a liability, he dunked on Hakeem and took the Suns to the finals in 93.