Steve Nash developed into 1 of the NBA’s top guards during his playing career.
With over 5,000 players in NBA history, at least one player was born on every day of the calendar year – including three leap day ballers. Our day-by-day breakdown of the players born on each day of the year continues.
Below are the most notable NBA players born on Feb. 7.
Steve Nash (1974)
Nash was the 15th pick in the 1996 NBA Draft out of Santa Clara by the Phoenix Suns. Ironically, his career didn’t truly take off until he left for the Dallas Mavericks and then rejoined the Suns in 2004.
Nash made two All-Star appearances in his final three years in Dallas but became a superstar with the Suns in 2004. This elite playmaker took down his first two-straight MVPs when he rejoined Phoenix, leading the league in assists in both. He accomplished that five times throughout his career and made eight All-Star appearances in total. Nash closed his career with two seasons playing for the Los Angeles Lakers before retiring in 2014. Nash averaged 14.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 8.5 assists throughout his 18-year career, being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018.
Isaiah Thomas (1989)
Thomas was the final pick of the 2011 NBA Draft due to his size (5-foot-9), but finished seventh in Rookie of the Year voting in 2011 and was second in Sixth Man of the Year voting in 2014. He became a standout scorer when he joined the Boston Celtics that season, making back-to-back All-Star appearances in 2015 and 2016. Thomas finished fifth in MVP voting in 2016, averaging 28.9 points and 5.9 assists per game. That was the last time he was an elite player, playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards, New Orleans Pelicans, Dallas Mavericks, Charlotte Hornets and Phoenix Suns since then.
Juwan Howard (1973)
Howard was the fifth pick in the 1994 NBA Draft and finished fifth in Rookie of the Year voting. He followed that up with his sole All-Star appearance in 1995-96 and was a strong contributor, averaging 17.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and three assists in his first decade in the NBA.
Overall, he played for eight teams across his 19-year career and spent time as an NBA assistant coach before returning to his alma mater, Michigan, as its coach. That lasted for five seasons, with Howard returning to the NBA to be an assistant for the Brooklyn Nets. He also won two championships with the Miami Heat throughout his playing career (2012, 2013).
Want to see every NBA player born on February 7? Here is the rest of the list in chronological order:
- Don Martin (February 7, 1920)
- Dick Shrider (February 7, 1923)
- Fred LaCour (February 7, 1938)
- Jim King (February 7, 1941)
- Rick Wilson (February 7, 1956)
- Mike O’Koren (February 7, 1958)
- Dwayne McClain (February 7, 1963)
- Eric Johnson (February 7, 1966)
- Stanley Roberts (February 7, 1970)
- Kevin Thompson (February 7, 1971)
- Milt Palacio (February 7, 1978)
- Dalibor Bagaric (February 7, 1980)
- Mickael Pietrus (February 7, 1982)
- Bernard James (February 7, 1985)
- Joel Freeland (February 7, 1987)
- Nick Calathes (February 7, 1989)
- Greg Whittington (February 7, 1993)
- Cameron Reynolds (February 7, 1995)
- Matt Mooney (February 7, 1996)
- Didi Louzada (February 7, 1999)
- R.J. Hampton (February 7, 2001)
