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basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
, 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). A pass that leads to a shooting foul and scoring by free throws does not count as an assist in the
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
, but does in FIBA 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 Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...
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-Sta ...
is among the league leaders in assists and play-making. Center Wilt Chamberlain 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 Americans, Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Ass ...
, can also be an effective assistor because the defense's
double-teaming In basketball, a double team (also double-team, double teaming, or double-teaming) is a defensive alignment in which two defensive players are assigned to guard a single offensive player. Among basketball strategies in which defenders are assig ...
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 of the Orlando Magic on December 30, 1990. The NBA record for most career assists is held by John Stockton, 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.


See also

* List of National Basketball Association career assists leaders * List of National Basketball Association season assists leaders * List of National Basketball Association players with most assists in a game * List of National Basketball Association career playoff assists leaders * List of NCAA Division I men's basketball career assists leaders * List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season assists leaders * List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 20 or more assists in a game * List of NCAA Division I women's basketball career assists leaders * List of NCAA Division I women's basketball season assists leaders


References


External links


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