Trae Young aspires to be as good as his ‘favorite player’ Steve Nash

The Phoenix Suns earned the No. 1 overall pick in Tuesday night’s NBA Draft Lottery, and the player who led the nation in scoring last season may be trying to appeal to their fan base.

Former Oklahoma point guard Trae Young attended the event, and he said during an interview that his favorite player growing up was Suns legend Steve Nash.

Trae Young says his favorite player is @SteveNash pic.twitter.com/NZ8tPD9UH0

— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) May 15, 2018

“My favorite player of all time is Steve Nash — how cerebral he is, how he can score from all three levels,” Young said. “He’s just been my favorite player growing up and I’ve watched a lot of film on him. Hopefully one day I can look back and say I achieved a lot of the things he did.”

While he never won a championship, there’s no question Nash is one of the best guards to ever play in the NBA. He’ll be inducted into the Hall of Fame later this year, and he ranks third on the league’s all-time assists list behind only John Stockton and Jason Kidd. He also scored over 17,000 points in his career and hit 90.3 percent of his free throws throughout his career, which is the best mark in NBA history.

Young led the country last season with 27.4 points and 8.7 assists per game, but he struggled a bit late in the year. Some say his game is similar to Stephen Curry’s, while other comparisons have not been as flattering. Either way, he has virtually no shot at being picked first overall by the Suns, but they probably appreciate his nod to the best player in franchise history.