Steve Nash and Jason Kidd emerged as superstars of the league in the 00’s as basketball transitioned into the post-Jordan era. Both point gods captured the hearts of fans with their unique styles and their ability to find the open man helping them combine to lead the league in assists 10 times throughout their careers. The pair claimed their fair share of additional awards and trophies throughout their time on the court, with both players influential in paving the way for today’s greats of the game. When stacking their achievements against one another, Nash and Kidd can make a case as the superior player, but there can only be one winner in this Compare the Pair.

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POSTSEASON SUCCESS

DESPITE featuring on some dominant Phoenix teams in the mid noughties, Steve Nash was never able to advance further than the Western Conference Finals. An 0-4 record in the WCF doesn’t tell the whole story of Nash’s postseason career, with the crafty point guard boosting his scoring (17.3 PPG) and assist (8.8 APG) numbers in the playoffs. Jason Kidd had a more fruitful postseason campaign during his time in the league, leading two New Jersey Nets teams to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003, only to fall to superior Lakers and Spurs squads. He managed to capture an ever-elusive championship ring with Dallas in 2011 with Kidd eventually finishing his career with the 3rd most playoff triple-doubles in NBA history. Most of Kidd’s success came in the Eastern Conference while Nash had to contend with the superior Western Conference for his entire career. Is it fair? No. But J-Kidd still deserves the nodd as the superior postseason player.
Edge: Kidd

OFFENSIVE TALENT

NO offense to Jason Kidd, but he can’t hold a candle to Nash here. Their career PPG totals are seperated by less than two points, however, the effeciency Nash showed was a big reason why he owns two MVP trophies from his playing days. Four times Nash was a member of the 50/40/90 club with Larry Bird the only other player in league history with more than one such season. Those percentages highlighted how elite Nash was

NASH easily wins here, his offensive game is almost unparalleled when comparing him to other point guards. He compiled four 50/40/90 seasons (50% from the field, 40% from 3 and 90% from the free throw line) and was an elite three-point shooter throughout his entire career. Kidd averaged under 35% from deep for his career and shot 40% from the field. While he was arguably a better ‘point guard’ in the dictionary definition of the positions, he can’t compete with the shooting prowess of the Canadian.
Edge: Nash

DEFENSIVE TALENT

MUCH like Nash’s offensive dominance, this isn’t even a discussion as Kidd easily comes out on top here. He made four All-Defensive 1st teams and finished in the All-Defensive teams nine times over his career. Nash didn’t appear once. Kidd ranks 2nd all-time for career steals with over 2,600. Nash didn’t record 900 total.
Edge: Kidd

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BEST MOMENT

KIDD –
Jason Kidd’s best moment came against Boston in the 2002 East Finals. With a maiden NBA Finals berth on the line, Kidd averaged a commanding triple-double (17.5pts/11.2rebs/10.2asts) throughout the six-game series, including 15/13/13 in the closeout Game 6, leading the Nets to victory. Kidd played to his strengths and led the Nets to their first NBA Finals past a talented Celtics team.

NASH –
While the most iconic moment for Steve Nash came in Game 1 of the ’07 West Semis when Nash played through a bloody disfigured nose against the Spurs, that wasn’t his best moment. That came against Dallas in ’05 when Nash burned the Mavericks in the Western Semi-Finals. He had a career-high 48 points in a Game 4 win, followed it up with a Game 5 triple-double (34pts/13rebs/12asts) and then hit a game-tying three to force OT in Game 6, where he finished the Mavs off with 39 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds.
Edge: Nash. Just.

AWARDS/RECORDS

THERE is very little argument that can be made against Nash and his two Most Valuable Player awards. Kidd finished 2nd in MVP voting to Duncan in 2002 as his highest finish. He did however, share Rookie of the Year with Grant Hill in 1995. They both led the league in assists per game five times and shared a similar number of All-Star appearances (Kidd: 10, Nash: 8) and All-NBA team selections (Kidd: 6, Nash: 7). Unfortunately for Kidd, the back-to-back MVP’s in ’05 & ’06 makes it impossible to mount a case against Steve Nash.
Edge: Nash

LEGACY/IMPACT

IT’S hard to encompass how much of an impact both players had in the league with both having long successful careers and multiple teammates raving about their leadership and work ethic. Kidd, however, is heralded as one of the greatest floor generals ever, while Nash is more of a flashy passer and dominant scorer. It’s tough to split the two in that regard, pick your poison. When talking about the influence they had on the game of basketball, you could argue that Steve Nash changed the way the point guard position was played with his hooting, but Kidd did that with his overall dominance on both sides of the ball. Sure he wasn’t a great shooter, but he still scored and developed a jump shot later in his career and on the defensive side of the ball he was a nightmare for opposing point guards. Both have had a profound impact on the game of basketball, but Kidd’s accomplishments slightly outweigh those of Nash.
Edge: Kidd. Just

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VERDICT – JASON KIDD

A 3-3 tie between these two is fitting because they are almost impossible to split. Offensively and defensively we have clear winners, with both players elevating their games to another gear during the postseason. While Kidd’s ring in ’11 does give him a slight edge Nash did also claim dual MVP’s, and both experienced long successful careers in the league. At the end of the day though I feel you have to give Jason Kidd the slight edge for having more postseason success. You can attribute his championship to hitching a ride on Dirk Nowitzki’s coattails, but Kidd led two average Nets teams to back to back finals and Nash never made an NBA Finals appearance. Steve Nash was the leagues Steph Curry before there was a Steph Curry and will go down in history as a top point guard, but Jason Kidd’s overall game and successes make up for his poor jump shot giving him the win.

Peace ✌️

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