page_title: List of National Basketball Association annual assists leaders
section_title: Assist leaders by season
hierarchical_section_title: List of National Basketball Association annual assists leaders / Assist leaders by season
caption_attribution_description: English: Los Angeles Lakers Magic Johnson
context_page_description: In basketball, an assist is a pass to a teammate that directly leads to a score by field goal. The National Basketball Association's assist title is awarded to the player with the highest assists per game average in a given season. The assists title was first recognized in the 1946–47 season when statistics on assists were first compiled by the Basketball Association of America, predecessor of the NBA. To qualify for the assist title, the player must appear in at least 58 games. However, a player who appears in fewer than 58 games may qualify as annual assists leader if his assist total would have given him the greatest average, had he appeared in 58 games. This has been the requirement since the 2013–14 season. The assists title was originally determined by assist total through the 1968–69 season, after which assists per game was used to determine the leader instead.
  John Stockton holds the all-time records for total assists and assists per game in a season, achieved in the 1990–91 and 1989–90 seasons, respectively. Mark Jackson holds the rookie records for total assists and assists per game when he had 868 and averaged 10.6 in the 1987–88 season.
caption: Magic Johnson was the assists leader from 1983 to 1984 and from 1986 to 1987.
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