Far be it from me to explain the evolution of point guard play in the NBA, when we have Steve Nash eloquently doing so. Instead, I'll stick to the numbers, where I'm relatively safe. As Nash explains, the role of the point guard in the NBA changed over the course of his long career, as the game opened up thanks to a barrage of 3-pointers and the elimination of most of the hand-checking that defenders once relied upon to keep lead guards in front of them. These changes have manifested themselves statistically over the years, so let's take a look by considering different eras of point guard play in the NBA.