One of the most popular sports and one of the most exciting sports to watch is basketball. Highlight reels are usually made up of blocked shots, fast-breaks, death-defying layups, and slam dunks.
However, one aspect of the game often tends to be overlooked: assist. We don’t give much attention to it, and it is one of the most important parts of every attack.
If you visit your favorite online casino from time to time to place bets on NBA games, you should definitely study how each team performs assists. This knowledge can help you determine which team has better chances of winning, but also which team is more interesting to watch.
John Stockton
At a time, Stockton was gritty, tough, and often accused of being dirty. Still, he was known for his amazing passing abilities. He was a leader in assists for 9 seasons in a row, which is something that almost no one could achieve. We can now enjoy Lillard’s and Curry’s shots from near the center of the court, but Stockton’s assists were always an amazing sight.
This player was able to find anybody if they were just slightly open. In basketball terminology, he had an amazing “court vision” that allowed him to see the entire court in from of him. Additionally, Stockton’s record still stands in the NBA today with over 15,000 assists during his playtime. His APG was 10.5, and he still admits that most of those dimes were thanks to his teammate Karl Malone.
Magic Johnson
You know a player is very special if his nickname is “Magic”. Earvin Johnson earned this nickname thanks to his incredible ability to pass the ball like no one else could at the time. His tasty dishes to teammates are still remembered to this day, and he loved to do it in transition. Long bounce passes through traffic and no-lookers were his specialty and are a great example of his spectacular assists.
Thankfully, during his prime time in Lakers, Johnson was accompanied by many talented and athletic players that he could find at any time. Magic brought a different aspect to the game during a time of dominant big men and physicality. Over his career, he scored 11.2 APG.
Steve Nash
During his 19 seasons in the NBA, Steve Nash was an elite pass-first point guard. He was deadly accurate with every single pass, and he did it with a lot of styles. He was a great passer since his first days on the field when he played at Santa Clara, where he had 501 assists. Accompanied by Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion, Nash had a team who would always answer to his passes and score.
He averaged 8.5 assists per game and has retired with over 10,000 assists in his pocket. During his career, he was first in the assists aspects of the NBA 5 times. Regarded as one of the elite point-guards of all time, Nash earned his Hall of Fame career mostly through assists.
Oscar Robertson
Known also as the “Big O”, Robertson inspired players like Russell Westbrook by his amazing passes throughout his career. Robertson and Westbrook are the only players ever that managed to pull up a triple-double in a season. In fact, Robertson was the first player ever to achieve this, and he was a leader in assists 6 times during his NBA career.
Similar to Johnson and Stockton, Robertson also had a main target for his passes that was able to score almost every time – Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Also known as Lou Alcinder, made a great career for himself thanks to the passing wizardry of Robertson and Johnson.
Russell Westbrook
To some, it may be surprising that Russell Westbrook is on this list. However, this amazing player is a walking triple-double and deserves as much attention as the rest on this list. Currently, he is the only player to have more than one triple-double season, and he managed to pass Robertson in total triple-doubles already.
In addition, he is a 3-time NBA assists leader and he is still racking them up. Considering his teammates and age, we expect him to get even better.
