| 
Kevin Johnson vs. Steve Nash By Jason Kelly
01.22.2008 - Updated on 01.22.2008
|
Double-threat point guards who are defensive liabilities are part of the folklore of the Phoenix Suns. With the exception of Magic Johnson – who was just a physical anomaly with wonderful vision – Kevin Johnson (KJ) was the first point guard (at least in the modern era of my memory) who could both pass and shoot. Cotton Fitzsimmons used to say that only good things could happen when KJ went to the hoop. For you younger readers, Chris Paul looks a heckuva (from the John Madden drinking game) lot like KJ. Trust me on this one. The problem was that KJ took such a pounding that he was quickly reduced to making guest appearances during the regular season (his understudy was Negele Knight) and the playoffs. He took a short break, though, and came back to the Suns. Similarities: Pass-first point guards who can nail their shots and carry their team. Both create for themselves and their teams with dribble penetration. KJ, like Nash, was wonderful at pulling up on the break and hitting the jumper. Does anyone else in Phoenix listen to the Al McCoy broadcast while watching the game on TV? During that Game 5 in Utah, the radio feed was a split second faster than the TV feed and Al told us that the shot was in while, on TV, it looked to be still in the air. Nash is great at that, too. I love to watch the fundamentals. A jump-stop followed by a jump-shot is a great thing to see. At this point, it is interesting to note that Jason Kidd was a great Suns’ point guard that did not have the jumper but had the defense. I guess you can’t get everything you want. Differences: Steve Nash’s three-point range and his MVPs. KJ had neither of those two things. On the MVP front, it is interesting to note KJ’s relative lack of acclaim. KJ averaged better than 20 and 10 in 1988-1989, 1989-1990 and 1990-1991. He narrowly missed his 20-10 average in 1991-1992 (19.7 and 10.7), 1993-1994 (20 and 9.5), and 1996-1997 (20 and 9.3). In Barkley’s first year, he laid (pun intended – it’s kind of like a Jeep Thing, if you have to ask, you wouldn’t understand) off the scoring, averaging only 16 and 8. For his career, he averaged 18 and 9. Perhaps his biggest fault lies with his poor playoff performance during the 1993 Finals. Nash, on the other hand, has never averaged more than 20 points in a season, but does have four seasons with double-digits in assists. His star is also burning hotter and more quickly, with career averages of only 14.1 and 7.7 (current). It is interesting to note that KJ’s career, at least statistically speaking, is better than Nash’s career thus far. KJ went deep in the playoffs and made a Finals appearance. That having been said, would KJ in his prime on this current team mean that the Suns have a better squad? I’m not sure, what do you think? |
| | |
Posted by
on 05.13.2008 | When my brother told me about kj when he was in the service out west I fell in love with the way he played the game. Hands down kj was the man. . | Posted by
xnxx
on 02.29.2008 | S,Nash crazy for you . | Posted by
Mike
on 02.18.2008 | Nash takes a lot of punishment but who doesn’t remember KJ driving to the hoop and getting knocked to the floor without a call 3-4 times a game (and grimacing at the officials for another minute afterwards)? The guy was gutsy as hell. They’re both pretty gritty players. To me its hard to call which is the better PG when the surrounding players make such a huge difference to what’s needed out of a PG. In my mind Nash is the more impressive passer but KJ was the more impressive scorer (dunking on Hakeem!). You have to wonder what the recent hand check rule change would’ve done for KJ, too. Thankful to have watched both of these cla-------acts for the Suns! . | Posted by
alberto
on 02.15.2008 | Life long suns fan, KJ wins it for me he is so underated on The all time PG lis t it makes me sick! Don’t forget barkley wasn’t there forever, before barkley was there he was tearing thing down a tthe "Madhouse at Mcdowell" with tom chambers and Eddie Johnson. KJ’s midrange game was superb and really at times was just un-guardable. I saw a post saying that KJ would eat Nash alive in a 1on1, well sorry to say B-ball is not a 1on1 sport. Nash is wonderful and I enjoy watching his PG play, but his defense is a major concern of mine, he needs weeks side help on basically NBA no-names. The fact that PG play has been down for the last 5-7 years really catapulted Nash into best PG of all time consideration. It is pretty amazing to see some of the plays that You think how in the world did nash see that, and his timing and precision in unbelievable. I might be partial since KJ will always be my favorite phx suns of all time. . | Posted by
Daniel
on 02.11.2008 | STEVE NASH IS THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! STEVE NASH ALLLL THE WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOT!!!!!!! NASH IS THE BEST PG EVER! ESPECIALLY THAT 3 POINT!!!!!! . | Posted by
on 02.11.2008 | I like both players but KJ would be my choice for the best PG. It was an exciting time when he played for the SUNS. He also had good moral ethics and a strong spiritual presence. He will ALWAYS be my favorite SUNS player.. . | Posted by
on 02.7.2008 | Nash is the better pure shooter with deeper range, but K.J. was no slouch and his .493 career field goal percentage is a little ahead of Nash’s .485. K.J. also set an NBA playoff record (since tied by Paul Pierce in 2003) for the most consecutive made free throws in a playoff game (21 in Game Seven of the 1995 Western Conference Semifinals versus Houston). In three career Game Sevens, K.J. shot a combined .933 from the foul line (42-45) and in the 1993 NBA Finals, he shot .920 from the free throw line (23-25). Among all NBA players who have played in at least three career Game Sevens, K.J. is third all-time in scoring average at 31.0 points and tied for fourth all-time (with Nash) in assists average at 10.0. . | Posted by
on 02.6.2008 | The influx of international players has only partially compensated for the decline in American fundamentals and collegiate maturation over the last dozen years. Today’s NBA is a much softer, less physical, less savvy, less experienced, and more watered-down league. The way that the referees call fouls these days, K.J. would have shot even more free throws and could have penetrated even more easily. Also, there were many noteworthy international NBA players in K.J.’s day: Hakeem Olajuwon, Dikembe Mutombo, Manute Bol, Carl Herrera, Detlef Schrempf, Rik Smits, Rony Seikaly, Toni Kukoc, Dino Radja, Drazen Petrovic, Vlade Divac, Sarunas Marciulionis, Arvydas Sabonis, and others. Hell, even Patrick Ewing was born in Jamaica. . | Posted by
on 02.6.2008 | Overall, K.J. didn’t perform poorly during the 1993 NBA Finals. He played poorly during the first two games against a Chicago defense designed to shut him (not Barkley) down, but then bounced back strongly after that. Over the final four games of the series, K.J. averaged 22.0 points (never fewer than 19), 7.8 assists, 4.0 rebounds, a .459 field goal percentage, and a .909 free throw percentage (5.5 FTA). In other words, he played like an All-Star on offense and his defense on Michael Jordan in Games Three, Five, and Six momentously changed the series. K.J. couldn’t stop Jordan, of course, but he did manage to contain Air’s driving game and slightly reduce his explosive scoring rate, thus giving the Suns their chance to compete and get back in the series. In their triple-overtime victory in Game Three in Chicago, for instance, K.J. pestered Jordan into missing 18 of his last 27 field goal attempts as Air needed 43 shots to score 44 points. And in that game, K.J. set an NBA Finals record with 62 minutes played (in a row, while running the point and guarding Jordan, no less). The following video is from late in Game Six of the 1993 Finals back in Phoenix. At the 2:27 mark, you can hear Marv Albert exclaiming, "Kevin Johnson coming up strong, once again." http://atch?v=vB8kG1ZY3vs As for Barkley, keep in mind that his arrival in Phoenix actually caused K.J.’s numbers to dip because the Suns switched to a post-up offense that took the ball out of Johnson’s hands much of the time and reduced his opportunities for facilitation. . | Posted by
on 02.6.2008 | The Suns traded Michael Finley, Sam Cassell, and A.C. Green to Dallas on December 26, 1996, in exchange for Jason Kidd, Loren Meyer, and Tony Dumas, so Finley never played with Kidd. The athletic swingman did play with K.J. for over a year and with Nash for a couple months. Also note that K.J. played in 105 out of 106 potential playoff games (99.1%). And K.J. was a better "all-around" player than Nash because he was much more of an impact and "lockdown" defender. He was a somewhat less traditional point guard than Nash, but as Dan Majerle has stated, K.J. could "do it all." Finally, in 2003, K.J. called it an "honor" to be compared to Marbury, so don’t consider him an objective source on his own abilities. Indeed, he tends to underrate himself in his post-career comments. . | Posted by
renzie
on 02.2.2008 | Real mvps get their teams to the finals. Both kid and johnson did just that. Steve Nash has three mvp’s and 0 champioships appearances. . | Posted by
BaByFaCe
on 01.29.2008 | Dallas made one mistake is tat they traded Nash to the Suns...tis gave the sun to obtained a good player instead....in a short time...Nash became a very good player...in fact PROFESSIONAL.....he has been known to his assists.....he will obtain his 3rd mvp tis year for sure. . | Posted by
the ripper
on 01.25.2008 | KJ WAS ACTUALLY HURT IN 93 playoffs but played anyway . | Posted by
CHAMPSin08
on 01.25.2008 | KJ all the way. Nash is a great player but he needs to improve on defense to be compared to KJ. . | Posted by
AM
on 01.25.2008 | They are both high character, team-oriented PG’s with great leadership traits. There is absolutely no "knock" on KJ but Nash truly makes everyone around him better and is perhaps the most "efficient" player the league has ever seen at the PG position. I never had the anxiety when KJ was given a rest that I feel when Nash sits down. The statistics are not what is important for a PG, it is more about whether he ads synergy to the team. When I see Nash throw a left-handed bounce pa-------in traffic to someone who gets an easy lay-up I am reminded about the absolute beauty and joy of basketball. . | Posted by
Lean
on 01.25.2008 | KJ7 is way better than Steve Nash. The only thing Nash has that KJ did not is a 3-pt shot. BUT on KJ’s plus side, he was a hardnose player. He may not have had blocks and rebounds like a bigger Jason Kidd, but he played D on his man. Steve just moves his feet around. That’s hard for me to say because I am a huge fan of Steve, but the truth is the truth no matter how much it hurts. ALSO KJ was simply faster than Nash ever will be. Passing flash goes to Steve, but KJ had jets. AND HOPS! remember him dunking on legendary centers (back when the centers were both big AND tough)? Ewing and Olajuwon got posterized big time! Lastly, KJ did not have as many shooters to pa-------to in his day BUT he still managed 10 assists. Wow. Love both PG13 and PG7, but KJ is a legend. He should have gotten his accolades. . | Posted by
mr. goody 2 shoes
on 01.24.2008 | Put kj...healthy kj..i mean on this suns team..championship...done . | Posted by
mrhoopfan
on 01.24.2008 | K.J. was better.....Nash can’t guard anyone and Phoenix has to hide the fact by having Marion guard the other teams point guard at times... Nash is great but he’s always been in an ideal situation for a pg...and in Dallas Van Exel closed out the games, not Nash . | Posted by
KING MIKE
on 01.24.2008 | (STEVE NASH) IS A GREAT PLAYER BUT I’M GOING TO HAVE TO GO WITH (KEVIN JOHNSON) CAUSE INDIVIDUAL-WISE.....SCORING / DEFENSE...HE WAS BETTER. . | Posted by
Mike
on 01.23.2008 | Someone mentioned earlier that Steve has better court vision. How do you figure that when KJ’s career assist average is higher? KJ is only the 3rd player in NBA history to average 20 and 10 three years in a row. Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas were the only other players to do that. As the article points out, KJ Averaged 9 apg and Steve is at 7.7, it would be almost impossible for Steve to reach 9 apg this late in his career. As far as the MVP comparison goes, I also don’t agree with the an earlier comment that the league has a better quality group of players. Did we forget about all of the greats who were playing during KJ’s area? Jordan, Bird, Johnson, Barkley. The league has seen a marked improvement since the european players have started to migrate but that is after many years of lower quality players, mostly due to lack of experience from too many players leaving college early or skipping it all together. . |
No profanity or inaproppriate remarks. All i.p. addresses will be saved and abuse/hate posts will be reported to providers and authorities as part of the anti-spam act of 2003, thank you for posting comments on the articles only. | | | |
| | | |
|  | | | | | NBA Features | | | | | | |
|
| |
