I broke down why he's only 18th.
Only Stockton/Paul/Nash and Rondo in 2012 have had better seasons.
All of them besides Paul had a way lower usage % which enabled them to get more assists. Not to mention Nash was playing 5 more possessions than Russ during those peak Suns years when he had those #'s.
They also all had much higher turnover %'s than Russ did, bigger than the difference in assist % they had on him.
So yea, him being 18th all things considering is actually even more impressive when context is provided.
You say you can't be in the best passers ever convo if you're not in the top 5?
Guess Magic, Kidd, Zeke, Mark Jackson, Lebron can't be in the convo because only two of them even have top 50.
Now with consistency you have a point, it's only his second year playing at this level but I just think that's a function of him finally figuring it out and actually having an NBA level coach now.
He's in the middle of his prime, he's only going to get more effecient. Most of the best passers had their best seasons age 30 and beyond besides Chris. Nash didn't even reach Russ level until he was 34.
Russ ain't even there yet, that gives him two more years of producing at a rate that outpaces anybody else.
He also did it 2014-2015 playing with ******* Dion Waiters, Andre Roberson and pre glo up Steven Adams.
So yeah even if his career ended today he'd have to go down as one of the best passers if you look at the game from a calculated view and he has a chance sans injury to be the best passer.