basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, an assist is attributed to a player who passes the ball to a teammate in a way that leads directly to a score by

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

, meaning that they were "assisting" in the basket. An assist is also credited when a basket is awarded due to defensive goaltending. There is some judgment involved in deciding whether a passer should be credited with an assist. An assist can be scored for the passer even if the player who receives the pass makes a basket after dribbling the ball for a short distance. However, the original definition of an assist did not include such situations,Hal Bock
Give an assist to NBA
, ''The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'', April 28, 2002. so the comparison of assist statistics across eras is a complex matter. Only the pass directly before the score may be counted as an assist, so no more than one assist can be recorded per field goal (unlike in other sports, such as

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

). A pass that leads to a shooting foul and scoring by

free throws In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

does not count as an assist in the NBA, but does in

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

play (only one assist is awarded per set of free throws in which at least one free throw is made).

Point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run the team's offense by ...

s tend to get the most assists per game (apg), as their role is primarily that of a passer and ballhandler. Centers tend to get fewer assists, but centers with good floor presence and court vision can dominate a team by assisting. Being inside the key, the center often has the best angles and the best position for "dishes" and other short passes in the scoring area. Current NBA Center

Nikola Jokić Nikola Jokić ( sr-cyr, Никола Јокић, (); born February 19, 1995) is a Serbian professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) who plays the center position. A four-time NBA All-St ...

is among the league leaders in assists and play-making. Center

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years and is widely reg ...

led the NBA in total assists in 1968. A strong center with inside-scoring prowess, such as former NBA center

Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Houston Rockets a ...

, can also be an effective assistor because the defense's double-teaming tends to open up offense in the form of shooters. The NBA single-game assist team record is 53, held by the Milwaukee Bucks, on December 26, 1978. The NBA single-game assist individual record is 30, held by

Scott Skiles Scott Allen Skiles Sr. (born March 5, 1964) is an American former basketball coach and player. He coached the Phoenix Suns, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic. A first-round draft pick out of Michigan State University, Skiles played ...

of the Orlando Magic on December 30, 1990. The NBA record for most career assists is held by

John Stockton John Houston Stockton (born March 26, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player. Regarded as one of the greatest point guards, players and passers of all time, he spent his entire NBA career (1984–2003) with the Utah Jazz, a ...

, with 15,806. Stockton also holds the NBA single season assist per game record with 14.5 during the 1989-1990 regular season. The highest career assist per game average in NBA history is held by

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time and has been compared with Stephen Curry. Johnson played 13 seasons in the ...

, with 11.2 assists per game.

References

External links

WSJ article on assists
{{DEFAULTSORT:Assist (Basketball) Assist (basketball) Basketball terminology Basketball statistics

See also

References

External links