For all that 8x All-Star and 2x MVP Steve Nash was able to accomplish in his NBA career, one of his greatest shortcomings was his failure to win a Championship.
Despite many chances, and a lot of good teammates, he was never able to lead his Suns to the promised land, and it remains the biggest stain on the Hall-Of-Farmer’s otherwise illustrious legacy.
When looking back on Nash and his career in Phoenix, it’s not uncommon for fans to question the reason why he was never able to win. On “The Ringer,” former All-Star Shawn Marrion presented his own theory as to the reason:
“I think adjustments stopped us from getting over that hump. Everybody keeps speculating that the year Amar’e got suspended was the year we were supposed to win a Championship. I didn’t feel it that year. I felt it the next year.
Everybody talking about the adjustments or what a team doing and not doing — you a coach, you got to make a f—ing adjustment. It’s your duty to see what a team doing or not doing.
No wonder everybody said we were predictable. If you go back and look at the stuff, a lot of the coaches and staff, they were like ‘aw, we knew we were gonna beat y’all in aa playoff series, ya’ll predictable. All y’all did was do four-out, one-in. Amar’e gonna screen-roll with Steve and he gonna probe until he find something.”
Fans on Reddit responded to the idea, chiming in with their own takes on what happened.
Obviously, the biggest indictment from Marion seems to be the coaching of Mike D’Antoni. According to Marion, he failed to mix things up or make the proper adjustments, which led to the Suns being predictable and easy to beat in the playoffs.
Considering coach D’Antoni failed to win even a single Championship in any of his coaching tenures, it’s not ridiculous to think that his coaching style may be flawed.
Nevertheless, blaming D’Antoni isn’t really going to change anything at this point. All anyone can do is look back and reflect on things that may or may not have contributed to their shortcomings.
