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Stephen John "Steve" Nash, OC, OBC is a Canadian professional basketball player who currently plays for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. After a successful high-school basketball career in British Columbia, he earned a scholarship to Santa Clara University in California. In his four seasons with the Broncos, the team made three NCAA Tournament appearances, and Nash was twice named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year.
Nash graduated from Santa Clara as the team's all-time leader in assists and was taken as the 15th pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns. He made a minimal impact and was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in 1998. By his third season with the Mavericks, he was voted to his first NBA All-Star Game and had earned his first All-NBA selection. Together with Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Finley, Nash led the Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals the following season. However, he became a free agent after the 2003–04 season and returned to the Phoenix Suns.
In the 2004–05 season, Nash led the Suns to the Western Conference Finals and was named the league's Most Valuable Player. He was named MVP again in the 2005–06 season and missed out on a third consecutive MVP title to Nowitzki in 2006–07. Named by ESPN in 2006 as the ninth greatest point guard of all time, Nash has led the league in assists and free-throw percentage at various points in his career. He is also ranked as one of the top players in NBA league history in three-point shooting, free-throw shooting, total assists, and assists per game.
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