Nash Reaches 1,000 Game Milestone

PHOENIX -- Steve Nash played in his 1,000th career game on Sunday, helping his team to an easy 120-106 win over the New Orleans Hornets. Until a couple of days ago, Nash wasn't even aware of the approaching milestone, one he now shares with only nine other players who are active in the league.

"I didn't even know," Nash said. "If you would have asked me two or three days ago, two days ago, before [a reporter] said to me, 'this is your 1000th game,' I couldn't have guessed if it was 600 or 900 or whatever. It was a nice surprise."

Once the moment had arrived, Nash seemed to appreciate what it takes to play that many games, and to do so at the high level that he's been able to maintain for the past several seasons.

"To play 1000 games, it's amazing," Nash said. "Part of me feels like, it just means I'm old. But if someone would have told me when I was 15, 16, 17 years old that I would play 1000 games as a professional basketball player, I'd have probably been pretty happy."



Share Suns head coach Alvin Gentry was similarly impressed by the accomplishment, and pointed out that the way Nash plays in his team's uptempo system probably makes it even more impressive.

"I think that's an unbelievable accomplishment," Gentry said. "A thousand games is a lot, especially If you take the way Steve has played -- and this is his sixth year here, so the last 500 games or so if you count playoffs -- that's really, really tough. Those 480 or 500 games that he's played here, it's probably more like 650 with the pace that he's played the last six years.

"The things that he's done for our team, and all the plays that we've asked him to make, that's a lot of miles right there."

Nash had one of his most efficient games in a while against New Orleans, and finished with 13 points and 12 assists. He went 5-for-7 from the field, 2-for-2 from behind the three-point line, and made his only free throw attempt in 29 minutes of action.

"I've really struggled physically for the last six weeks but coincidentally, tonight I've felt the best I've felt in six weeks," Nash said.

The arena scoreboard recognized Nash for his accomplishment early in the game, and he received a warm ovation from the fans in attendance. He appeared to share a laugh with Gentry at the time, and the coach told us afterward the words of encouragement that he had for his veteran player.

"You know how old you have to be to play 1000 games?" Gentry jokingly said to Nash.

Ever the humble superstar, Nash was extremely appreciative of the fans' support.

"I was touched that they recognized my 1000th game, and the fans gave me a nice ovation -- that means a lot," Nash said. "As you get older, you realize that this won't last forever and for the fans to appreciate my effort, it's really nice."