Definition of Assist (basketball)

In basketball, an assist is attributed to a player who passes the ball to a teammate in a way that leads to a score by field goal, meaning that he or she was "assisting" in the basket. This person is known as the "assistor." According to the Official 2004 NCAA Basketball Statistics Rules, an assist has to be "a major part of the play," which either finds the player already with a "positional advantage," or helps him or her get one. There is thus 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. However, the original definition of an assist did not include such situations, so the comparison of assist statistics across eras is a complex matter.