For Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki, Tuesday turned out to be a pretty special night.
The former teammates each accomplished a major milestone during their respective games against Houston and Utah: Nash moved past Mark Jackson for third all-time with 10,335 career assists behind John Stockton (15,806) and Jason Kidd (12,091), while Nowitzki passed Oscar Robertson for 10th all-time with 26,714 career points .
Nash has maybe one more year left in him, so he will stay behind Kidd in the record books, but Nowitzki still has plenty left in the tank. If he can sustain his current level of play for the next two seasons, he should easily be able to pass Shaquille O’Neal, who is sixth all-time with 28,596 points. If the power forward can play three to four more years, he can conceivably move past Wilt Chamberlain, who is just head of O’Neal with 31,419 points.
It gives us a perspective on just how amazing Nash and Nowitzki’s careers have been up to this point, and it’s something to celebrate and appreciate. Here are some congratulatory remarks from some of the players around the league:
@swish41 congrats big time!
— Detlef Schrempf (@Dschrempf) April 9, 2014
@swish41 amazing man…congrats and fun part of season coming up bro — Brent Barry (@Barryathree) April 9, 2014
Congrats to the Great @SteveNash on passing me on the All Time Assist list! I’m Honored!! God Bless #4 — Mark Jackson (@MarkJackson13) April 9, 2014
CONGRATS DIRTY @swish41 TOP 10 ALL TIME..! #LEGENDARY — JAE CROWDER (@CJC9BOSS) April 9, 2014
RT“@InsideHoops: All-time NBA total #assist leaders: 1-John Stockton 2-Jason Kidd 3-Steve Nash 4-Mark Jackson 5-Magic Johnson”…STILL WOW! — Mark Jackson (@MarkJackson13) April 9, 2014
Congrats to @SteveNash!!! #Greatness — Willie Green (@DetroitWillie34) April 9, 2014
Congrats @swish41 top 10 all-time that’s what’s up — Shawn Marion (@matrix31) April 9, 2014
@SteveNash saw it myself and still upset I was never on receiving end of any of them, congrats Steve
— Brent Barry (@Barryathree) April 9, 2014
.@swish41 words can not express
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) April 9, 2014
Congrats 2 my 2nd fav Canadian, Mr. @SteveNash #3 on the NBA all time assist list. You’d have 12,000 by now if I’d hit some shots #whynot
— grant hill (@realgranthill33) April 9, 2014
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James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. You can find him on twitter @SheridanBlog.