Nash, maestro of frenetic Suns, enters Ring of Honor

PHOENIX (AP) Steve Nash was the maestro of a frenetic basketball symphony with the Phoenix Suns.

Over a six-year span, from 2004-05 to 2009-10, his Suns reached the Western Conference finals three times. Nash twice was named league MVP.

Those teams never won an NBA title, or even reached the Finals, but they ushered in a high-speed, high-energy style that in many ways transformed the game. The reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors can trace their lineage to the desert.

On Friday night, the Suns inducted the prolific playmaker into the franchise Ring of Honor, joining the likes of Charles Barkley, Tom Chambers, Walter Davis and Connie Hawkins.

Nash thanked the fans and dozens of people in the organization by name in a long, unprepared speech after which, he said, ''They gave me a lot of drinks for the last two hours.''