More impactful Canadian baller all-time Nash or SGA?

[MoneyBall]

I don't know about impact but Nash was a much more enjoyable player to watch. That's not a knock on SGA, it's just that Nash's Suns were peak entertainment back in those days.

[refshateRaps]

Both are greats.

While Nash was given leeway in some close call MVP award races, he was often the victim of NBA style refereeing in favour of the opposing team in the playoffs. Whereas Shai was heavily favoured in the playoffs and given alot of extra slack in how he created space. Similar to Lebron and Kobe in the aspect of getting extra calls and non-calls. This matters in creating a legacy.

Now that Shai won a title and the NBA clearly has an interest in facilitating his status when it comes to wins and losses it will be hard to ever debate this in a few years IMO.

Shai is already "that guy" now in the NBA and it wont even be close in the future.

[torsport]

I think this question is a little premature.

We have decades of work to reflect on with Nash, and SGA is still in the early stages of his prime.

SGA is certainly on track to have more basketball success - he already has a title, MVP, Finals MVP and has led the league in scoring. The only few people to do that are MJ, Shaq and Kareem (good company).

But to the point of earlier posters, Nash did contribute to changing the NBA game. Ball movement and 7 seconds or less offense are still present in the league.

I agree with other posters, it's difficult to see how Shai can 'change' the game in a similar way. However, maybe his role is to be more of a revival one, bringing the game back to guards who play both ends of the floor, are efficient in the mid-range, and attack the basket. I loved this final, which was just watching players launch 3s.

Swarming defense and movement offense from both teams I hope are part of the next wave of team building, it's much more enjoyable to watch.

[OakleyDokely]

They are so hard to compare because stylistically they're so different. It's like trying to compare Magic to Kobe. You know both guys are great, but for different reasons.

[TheGeneral99]

Nash was one of the main reasons I started watching basketball...I was only 12 years old when he got his first MVP in Phoenix and it was electric seeing this normal looking guy just dominate teams and revolutionize the way the game is played. You guys remember TNT every Thursday on cable the Suns played at 10:30pm nearly every week, that's what I looked forward to as a kid, especially when the Raptors were sucking.

Shai obviously had the greatest single season/playoffs in Canadian basketball history, and one of the best seasons in NBA history.

There is no doubt Shai will pass Nash overall when it's all said and done, but for now I give the edge to Nash just based on his overall accomplishment and impact.

[Mr. Perfect]

Shai is peaking higher and will likely have a longer sustained prime.

That being said, I can't stand SGA's game. He's not a guy I can cheer for unless he's wearing a team Canada jersey. He's a foul merchant with no personality, and benefits by being a volume scorer (an efficient one during the regular season at least) on an absolutely stacked defensive team that gets preferential treatment.

Shai's playoff run this year wasn't that impressive, the guy was a chucker with low BBIQ on a front running team that played weak opponents. Nash has had more impressive playoff runs than this, he was going up against much tougher teams with a weaker supporting cast. Was much harder to win in the league back then.

Nash was literally the only reason his teams were any good, he was way more of a catalyst and engine for those Suns teams than SGA was for his. Plus he was the ultimate underdog in a league that had no other Canadian presence. This little 6 foot Canadian white guy just schooling the league with his own unique playstyle and transforming the way offense is played in the league. 50/40/90 seasons with ease, and leading the top offense in the league. Shai has the higher box score numbers just cause of volume but that doesn't mean he's that much better of a player.

Shai is part of a big influx of Canadian talent in this league, yeah he stands out the most among them but he's no pioneer like Nash was. The guy who breaks through first always has the toughest path. Based on memory there was way more coverage on Nash and the Suns from Canadian media than whatever there is for SGA now. Pretty sure Nash was more of a household name in Canada back then, than SGA is now.