Anchorage’s Daishen Nix hangs on the rim after a dunk. Photo courtesy of Iowa Wolves
Great point guards from Anchorage don’t grow on trees, but they do come in threes.
We had 500-assist men like Muff Butler, Doron Perkins and Da’Zhon Wyche at the college level. In the pros, it’s been Brooks Thompson, Mario Chalmers and Daishen Nix.
Nix, 22, who was the first Alaskan to turn pro straight out of high school in 2020, already stands among the giants after taking the torch from Chalmers and carrying on the legacy of premier PGs from Rage City.
A two-way player for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Nix tipped off the NBA G League season in style Friday night with a 26-point, 10-assist, 2-steal, 2-block performance for the Iowa Wolves in a 111-93 win over the Wisconsin Herd.
This was his 10th double-double in 65 career G League games as he became the first player from Alaska to reach the 400-assist benchmark. He was also the first to hit 300 and the fastest to get to 200.
DAISHEN’S FLYIN pic.twitter.com/s5KGcSdht3
— Iowa Wolves (@iawolves) November 9, 2024
The 6-foot-4 playmaker pushed his G League career total to 404 assists; add that to the 178 dimes he’s dished during his first three seasons in the NBA and he’s knocking on the door of 600 for his pro career.
Nix, Chalmers and Thompson share the Alaska single-game assist record (13) at the pro level. Nix did it in the G League, Thompson in the NBA and Chalmers in both leagues – the first time when he was 22 in the NBA and the last time when he was 35 in the G League.
Chalmers is royalty when it comes to Alaska point guards.
The 6-foot-2 was a McDonald’s All-American at Bartlett High School before going on to win a NCAA title at Kansas and two NBA championships with the Miami Heat. Chalmers piled up 2,412 career assists in the NBA, including 2,004 with the Heat for the fourth most in franchise history.
Thompson grew up in Anchorage and graduated from Wendler Middle School before moving with his family to Littleton, Colo., but still returned to Alaska every summer with his dad, Dean, who worked for ARCO. He was the Colorado player of the year as a high school senior and went on to play in the 1989 Great Alaska Shootout with Texas A&M before finishing his college career at Oklahoma State and getting picked 27th by the Orlando Magic in the 1994 NBA Draft.
Nix had a similar path. Born in Fairbanks and raised in Anchorage, he graduated from Mears Middle School and moved to Las Vegas with his mom, Mina. In 2020, as a high school senior, he was selected a McDonald’s All-American for Trinity International and led his team to the 2020 Alaska Airlines Classic title.
Nix drives to the rim against Dimond at the 2020 Alaska Airlines Classic. Photo by Grenel Sumabat
Nix was initially going to UCLA coming out of high school but opted for the G League. He made his pro debut in 2020 and by 2021 he was in the NBA with the Houston Rockets.
In 2022, he bagged a 31-point, 12-rebound, 11-assist triple-double in the decisive game of the G League Finals for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Nix became the first Alaskan to win a G League title since Anchorage forward Ramon Harris in 2014 and the first Alaskan to record a triple-double in an NBA affiliated league since Juneau forward Carlos Boozer for the Utah Jazz in 2008.
In 2023, he signed with Minnesota and re-upped in 2024. He will bounce back and forth between the G League and NBA this season, going from the Wolves to the Timberwolves.
DROPPING DIMES
Most Assists in G League Game
13 – Daishen Nix 2/21/21
13 – Daishen Nix 1/27/22
13 – Mario Chalmers 3/4/22
12 – Daishen Nix 2/25/22
11 – Daishen Nix 2/15/22
11 – Mario Chalmers 3/20/22
11 – Daishen Nix 4/12/22
10 – Daishen Nix 2/23/22
10 – Mario Chalmers 3/10/22
10 – Daishen Nix 12/14/23
10 – Daishen Nix 11/8/24
