An assist in basketball is a pass that directly leads to a made basket. In simple terms, if you pass the ball to a teammate and they score right away, you usually get credited with an assist.

Quick Scoop

  • The pass must be the one that creates the scoring chance and leads directly to the basket.
  • The scorer may take a very short action after the pass, but the key idea is that the pass clearly helped produce the score.
  • Assists are a basic basketball stat, often shown as AST in box scores.

Example

If a guard drives into the lane and dishes the ball to a teammate for an immediate layup, that pass counts as an assist.

Why it matters

Assists show playmaking and teamwork, not just scoring. They help measure how well a player creates easy looks for teammates.

If you want, I can also explain the difference between an assist, a secondary assist, and a hockey assist.