The 5 Greatest Passers in NBA History
The NBA’s Greatest Passers of All-Time
Basketball is generally considered an exciting sport to watch, that is an obvious fact.
Slam dunks, death-defying layups, fast breaks, and blocked shots usually make up the highlight reels on a nightly basis.
However, there is another aspect of basketball that does not get nearly enough attention, and that is the Assist.
Watching the ball being passed around the perimeter, alley-oops, and breakaways where the ball barely touches the floor, are just some of the exciting plays that take place during a basketball game, involving the assist.
To be a great passer takes some skill, yes, but the best players in the NBA make the assist look more like an art than a science.
Here are the 5 greatest passers in NBA history.
1. John Stockton
John Stockton was tough, gritty, and accused at times of being slightly dirty as a player. Most of all, Stockton was known for his passing.
Stockton was the NBA leader in assists for 9 straight seasons. Just let that sink in for a moment.
Today we watch names like Steph Curry and Damian Lillard launch shots from the logos on the floor near the centre court, but John Stockton and his assists were a sight to behold, too.
Stockton was not flamboyant or dramatic when he passed the rock, but he could find anybody, anywhere if they were open.
“Court-vision” is an overused term in basketball that describes a player’s unique skill to be able to see the entire court in front of them.
It is usually associated with the top passers in the NBA, typically a point guard such as Stockton or Magic.
Stockton had a freight train of a finisher in his Hall of Fame teammate Karl Malone during their time together on the Utah Jazz.
“Stockton to Malone”, was a sentence that was synonymous with the words “pass” or “assist”. The dynamic duo created havoc with their execution of the “pick” and “roll” offense.
John Stockton was all about the assist. When he was needed to score or defend, Stockton was there, but making a great pass was a win for him.
Stockton led many breaks in which he could have scored, but he would slow down to find Malone streaking in for a signature dunk.
Malone grabbed most of the headlines for the Jazz, and rightfully so. Karl Malone piled up the point totals over the years, but most of those baskets came at the hand of his Jazz teammate John Stockton.
John Stockton had over 15,000 assists, a record that still stands in the NBA today. Stockton averaged 10.5 APG, and if you were to ask him, he would admit that Malone was the beneficiary of most of those dimes.
2. Magic Johnson
When a player’s nickname is “Magic”, and it has almost replaced their given name, you know we are talking about a special player.
Earvin “Magic” Johnson earned the name Magic from his ability to pass the ball like nobody else could. Magic had a flare for the dramatic with his tasty dishes to teammates, especially in transition.
No-lookers and long bounce-passes through traffic are only a couple of examples of the type of spectacular assists that Magic made over his storied NBA career.
Johnson led one of the most exciting eras of the NBA with what was known as “Showtime”, named after the fast-paced breakouts after every rebound.
Magic’s Los Angeles Lakers had a plethora of athletic and talented players on the roster for Johnson to find in a manner only he could. During a time of physicality, and dominant big men, Magic brought an aspect to the game that displayed a different type of skill.
With the basketball in his hands most of the time, Johnson controlled the pace and direction of each game.
Racking up assist totals was not just a statistic for Magic, he made others around him better with his ability to pass the ball.
Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was known to Lakers fans prior to Magic’s arrival. Johnson’s passes made stars and earned Hall of Fame careers for names like James Worthy, Byron Scott, Michael Cooper, and of course, Abdul-Jabbar.
Magic and his amazing passes led his Lakers to 5 NBA championships. Johnson nearly averaged a triple-double over his career in the NBA scoring 19.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG, and 11.2 APG.
Check out all of our NBA content in our Basketball Blog
3. Steve Nash
Steve Nash, or “Captain Canada”, was an elite pass-first point guard during his 19 seasons in the NBA. Nash passed the ball with some style, but he was deadly accurate with each one that he delivered.
Right from his college days at Santa Clara in the NCAA, Nash earned a reputation as an excellent passer.
His 501 assists at Santa Clara, still remain as a school record.
It was no surprise to anyone that Nash was a great passer. While at Santa Clara, Nash worked out with names like Jason Kidd and Gary Payton, players infamous for their knack for finding teammates.
The vast majority of Nash’s 8-season career was spent as a member of the Phoenix Suns. It was in Phoenix that Nash won back-to-back NBA MVP awards.
Nash’s crafty passing made household names out of players such as Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire.
Marion and Stoudemire were fantastic players, but if not for the artistry of Nash’s passes, their career numbers would be considerably less.
Nash retired with over 10,000 assists, averaging 8.5 assists per game. Nash was first in the NBA in assists 5 times in his career.
A Hall of Fame career earned mostly for passing the basketball would be rare in today’s NBA, but Nash is regarded still as one of the elite point guards of all time.
4. Oscar Robertson
The “Big O”, Oscar Robertson, made passing the ball his job and inspired the play of current NBA players like Russell Westbrook, who like Robertson, averaged a triple-double for an entire season.
Westbrook and Robertson are the only players to ever average a triple-double in a season.
Robertson was in fact, the first player to average a triple-double, at least 10 PPG, 10 RPG, and 10 APG. He was the NBA Assists Leader 6 times in his career.
Robertson was not dissimilar to his Hall of Fame brethren Stockton and Johnson, and he had a main target who would also enter the Hall of Fame.
Lou Alcinder, better known as Kareem Abdul Jabbar, manufactured a great career for himself under the passing wizardry of Johnson and Robertson.
With a championship, an MVP, and 12 NBA All-Star appearances, Robertson earned every single one of his Hall of Fame votes.
14 years in the league and Robertson averaged over 25 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and 9.5 APG. Which is why he made our list of the Greatest Players in NBA History.
5. Russell Westbrook
It is perhaps a surprise to some that Russell Westbrook has made our Top 5, but that shouldn’t be the case. Westbrook is almost literally a walking triple-double.
Westbrook, as mentioned before, and Oscar Robertson, are the only 2 players in NBA history to average a triple-double in points, assists, and rebounds over an entire season.
Westbrook is currently the only player to have more than one triple-double season. Westbrook averaged a triple-double in 4 out of 5 seasons and has passed Robertson for the NBA record in total triple-doubles.
Westbrook is the only current player to make our Top 5 list. The 3-time NBA Assists Leader is still racking up the assists, playing alongside another great passer who did not quite make our list- Lebron James.
Honourable Mentions
Honourable mention goes to “Pistol Pete”, Pete Maravich. Maravich did not only pass the ball with accuracy and precision, he also owns the footage of some of the most outstanding passes ever in the NBA.
Legends of the game of basketball and the NBA like Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Bad Boys, Steve Nash, and Magic Johnson all credit Maravich’s awesome assists as inspiration for their careers.
No disrespect to Thomas, Nash, and Johnson, but while Maravich was artistic with his passes, he was more of a scorer.
Maravich 24.2 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and only 5.4 APG.
Maravich is in the Hall of Fame, but it was his offensive talent, 1977 NBA Scoring Champion, that earned him that vote.
Do you agree with our Top 5 NBA passers?
The Assist, an offensive statistical category that gets little to no love from basketball enthusiasts, has provided some of the NBA’s best highlights while making the career of both the passers and the recipients.
Shawn Kemp, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and others dominated the NBA with their spectacular acrobatics in the air while dunking, but if not for a great pass, there would be no alley-oop, one of basketball's most exciting plays.
There are many who did not make our list, Who would you put up there as the greatest passers in NBA history?
Check out our comprehensive list of Basketball quotes here!
