What is an 'assist' in basketball?

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It's when a player passes the ball to another player and then that person scores. They assisted in the basket.

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An assist is credited to the person who passes the ball to someone and they shoot and score.

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Yes, but is there a time limit between the pass and shot, or a distance limit (ie: pass from pre-half court brought down for layup, etc...)? Does anyone know, this is very tough to find?

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I was trying to find an answer to this question today and came upon the following website.

http://www.ncaa.org/library/statistical/basketball_stats_manual/2005/2005_basketball_stats.pdf

It is the statistician's manual for the NACC.

It sounds like the definition is an "assist" is not simple and that the designation is subjective.

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The player receiving the pass must score a basket before dribbling the ball three times before an assist will be scored.

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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. The original definition of an assist did not include such situations, so the comparison of assist statistics across eras is a complex matter. (source: wikipedia)

First answer by james. Last edit by Zyemez. Contributor trust: 68 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 282 [recommend question]