When Steve Nash officially announced his retirement from basketball on Tuesday, the NBA lost a legend. Nash’s legacy includes back-to-back MVP Awards, his role as the driving force of the “seven seconds or less” offense, multiple 50-win seasons and Western Conference Finals appearances.

Although Nash will leave the NBA without a title, he was one of the most beloved and entertaining players in NBA history. Perhaps more importantly than winning a title, Nash changed the game and built the NBA that we know today.

The style of play of the NBA in 2015, with its fast-paced offense and ball movement, comes from what Nash and the “seven seconds or less” offense the Suns practiced in their heyday, a four-year stretch spanning from 2004-2008.

Under Head Coach Mike D’Antoni, the Suns’ offensive game plan in those years focused on pushing the ball up the court as fast as possible. Once up the court, the offense relied on pick-and-rolls, players moving without the ball and spacing the players on the court. This offensive style often allowed the Suns to score within seven seconds and made professional basketball look effortless.

At the center of this offensive style was Nash. He averaged a double-double in points and assists, at 17.5 points per game and 11.2 assists per game, along with shooting splits of 51.3 percent from the field, 45.1 percent from three-point range and 90.4 percent from 17.5 points per game and 11.2 assists per game, along with shooting splits of 51.3 percent from the field, 45.1 percent from three-point range and 90.4 percent from the free-throw line.

Nash was electric. Fans and critics remember his speed and his ability to find passes in seemingly impossible situations; he was also known for his ability to take over a game with his shooting and scoring.

Nash’s abilities were on full display in the 2004-2005 Western Conference Semifinals against the Dallas Mavericks. In that series, which the Suns won 4-2, Nash averaged a blistering 30.3 points per game, 12.0 assists per game and 6.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 55, 42, and 96 percent in the three main shooting categories.

Nash’s offense meant the Suns could score from anywhere on the court. Over that four-year stretch, Phoenix’s offense averaged 110 points per game, with six of its players averaging double-digit scoring. Despite losing key pieces each year, like Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson in 2005, Tim Thomas after 2006 and Kurt Thomas in 2007, the Suns never lost their swagger. Nash, Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire were the anchors of the Phoenix attack, and Nash elevated all of his teammates’ level of play, turning players like Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell and James Jones into bona fide threats on offense.

The Suns enjoyed some success after the 2007-2008 season, making the Conference Finals in 2009-2010, but after D’Antoni left in 2008, things were never the same. D’Antoni and Nash were a duo that changed the NBA in every way. Analysts called Phoenix the antidote to the slow-paced San Antonio Spurs, who fittingly were the Suns’ kryptonite in the playoffs.

Today, the Spurs ironically play nearly the exact same style of offense as the Suns did years before, andas did the Miami Heat did during their stretch of four straight Finals’ appearances and back-to-back championships. The success of both the Spurs and Heat using a similar offense to the Nash-era Suns has since raised questions about why the Suns could never win, or at least make the Finals.

Many cite their lack of defense, which, to a certain extent, is true. However, the Suns could not catch a break during many of their playoff runs, with injuries often hitting at the worst possible times, like when Stoudemire missed the entirety of the 2006 Playoffs, widely considered Phoenix’s best shot at the Finals. Still, the Suns were a joy to watch and made the grueling 82-game regular season bearable when they played.

Nash left the Suns for the Los Angeles Lakers after the 2011-2012 season in hopes of creating a super team with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard. The plan never panned out, as the Lakers struggled to earn the eighth seed in the 2012-2013 season before the team dissolved. Nash only played 15 games in 2014 and never set foot on the court again.

Despite a painful run with the Lakers, Nash passed Mark Jackson for third all-time in assists while playing for Los Angeles. Still, Nash will forever be a Phoenix Sun and among the greatest players to never win an NBA title. More than that, he will forever be the point guard that changed the NBA with his play.

And when the day comes for the Suns to retire Nash’s iconic number 13, we will surely still be seeing flashes of the league he helped create.

Paolo Santamaria is a freshman in the College. SAXA SYNERGY appears every Friday.