Modest Beginnings vs. Cal Didn't Hint at Steve Nash's Greatness

Steve Nash, who begins his debut season as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors, already stands above his NBA counterparts in one way.

Nash scored more points during his college career than any other current NBA coach.

He scored just 27 of them in three games with Santa Clara against Cal, but he was just beginning to blossom into the superstar he would become.

Nash put up 1,689 points from 1992-93 through 1995-96 with the Broncos before embarking on a professional career that led to two MVP awards and induction into the Naismith Hall of Fame.

The Canadian-raised point guard played three games against Cal teams led by Jason Kidd and Lamond Murray. All three were during his freshman or sophomore seasons, and Nash showed marked improvement from the first to the last.

In his sole game against the Bears as a freshman in 1992-93, Nash was scoreless in seven minutes off the bench. Cal won 80-73 at Santa Clara’s old Toso Pavilion, as the freshman Kidd assembled 17 points, six assists . . . and nine turnovers.

Jerod Haase, now the coach at Stanford, scored 21 points as a freshman and Murray had 17 for the Bears.

Former Santa Clara coach Dick Davey said Nash began trekking to the East Bay in the offseason during those years to get court time with Kidd and other Cal players. “That surely didn’t hurt him,” Davey said.

Kidd still easily outplayed Nash their first of two meetings in 1993-94.

In front of 14,000 fans at the San Jose Arena (now SAP) in an opening-round Preseason NIT game, Nash shot 3-for-13 and had 10 points to go with three assists. Kidd equaled his collegiate high with 27 points, along with seven rebounds and seven assists as Cal won 81-74.

Three weeks later, with 14,000 fans watching at the Oakland Coliseum Arena, Nash and Santa Clara finally got the upper hand. Nash had 17 points, six rebounds and four assists, sparking an 80-67 win by the Broncos.

Kidd flirted with a quadruple-double, posting 14 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds and seven steals, and Murray scored 28 points.

Kidd and Murray left for the NBA after the 1993-94 campaign, but Nash remained in school.

How good did he become?

Nash won back-to-back West Coast Conference Player of the Year awards and helped the Broncos to three NCAA tournament bids — their only three in the past 33 seasons.

Only two other current NBA coaches ever played against Cal, and both of them were from Arizona.

-- Warriors coach Steve Kerr helped the Wildcats fashion a 7-2 record against the Bears, averaging 11.0 points in those nine games. He scored double figures four times against Cal, with a high of 23 points in a win over Kevin Johnson and the Bears his junior season of 1985-86.

-- Luke Walton, now coach of the Sacramento Kings, enjoyed an unbeaten career in nine games against Cal as something of a point forward for Arizona.

Bill Walton’s son averaged 9.0 points against Cal, with two games of at least 20 points and two others where he was scoreless. But Walton impacted the game in a variety of ways, collecting 11 rebounds in one game, 11 assists in another and four steals twice in a game against the Bears.

Current NBA head coaches who scored at least 1,000 points in their college careers:

1,689: Steve Nash, Santa Clara (Brooklyn)

1,577: Tyronn Lue, Nebraska (L.A. Clippers)

1,535: Rick Carlisle, Maine/Virginia (Dallas)

1,445: Steve Kerr, Arizona (Golden State)

1,371: Monty Williams, Notre Dame (Phoenix)

1,328: Billy Donovan, Providence (Chicago)

1,234: Doc Rivers, Marquette (Philadelphia)

1,179: Luke Walton, Arizona (Sacramento)

1,104: Terry Stotts, Oklahoma (Portland)

1,075: Scott Brooks, TCU/UC Irvine (Washington)

1,027: Erik Spoelstra, Portland (Miami)

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

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