The Greatest Passers To Ever Play In The NBA

It’s shooting that scores points, but passing is arguably the most important ability in basketball. Most fans don’t realize that the divine passing skills of someone like Jason Kidd or Magic Johnson are just as or even more instrumental in propelling a team to brand-new places.

Basketball is a team sport, and passing is infectious, so it’s only natural that some bright stars have emerged from the shadows.

1. Steve Nash

Steve Nash changed how basketball was played in the 2000s when his passing and court vision quickened the pace of the Phoenix Suns. Nash’s soccer background added ingenuity never before seen by a point guard in the NBA, and point guards have struggled to match his abilities ever since.

2. Chris Paul

Chris Paul’s surgical, precise, exacting approach to playing point guard improves every team he’s ever been on. He hardly ever turns the ball over and works equally well as a pick-and-roll passer and a lob deliverer. CP3’s leadership gets over-praised, but his intelligence never receives the credit it deserves.

3. John Stockton

John Stockton is the most prolific passer in NBA history by statistical measurements. He led the league in assists nine times and retired as the all-time leading assist man in the sport. He ranks high here, but benefiting from playing with Karl Malone for two decades helped make most of his passes much easier than the three men above him on the list.

4. Nikola Jokić

Nikola Jokić is much more than the best passing center in NBA history. The Joker controls every aspect of the game by seemingly conjuring passes that don’t exist and leveraging his height to patrol the paint like a giant floor general. He makes all of the role players on the Nuggets look like capable stars, no matter their background or ability.

5. Jason Kidd

Jason Kidd’s bag of passing tricks grew in size each year. One season, you’d see him add a new behind-the-back pass on the fast break. Another year, he tossed 40-foot inbound passes for the win at the buzzer. Kidd’s many playmaking tools forced defenses to stay on their feet and plan for the unexpected.

6. Pete Maravich

Pete Maravich modernized basketball and cleared a path for the guards of today to eventually show off the full extent of the sport’s creative possibilities. Maravich was more known for scoring the ball at will, but he went out of his way to put on a show for the crowd and put the countless drills his father forced him to do to good use.

7. Bob Cousy

Bob Cousy pioneered the point guard position, leading the league in assists almost yearly during the late 1950s and the early 1960s. Cousy looked like an alien, magically delivering the ball in ways point guards simply never imagined trying to do in the primitive days of the NBA. He deserves credit as a true champion of the early days of basketball.

8. Larry Bird

Larry Bird could get a shot off whenever he wanted, but he always took more pride in making the right play. Getting a teammate an open shot stood out as the ethical basketball choice, and in turn, the Celtics were unstoppable, with Bird incorporating every person wearing green into the offensive attack in the 1980s.

9. LeBron James

LeBron James was criticized for passing instead of shooting during the most high-intensity game moments. Fans eventually understood that LeBron was more Magic Johnson than Michael Jordan, taking advantage of his size and speed to make even the most unknown NBA player a viable option on his rosters.

10. Bill Walton

Bill Walton’s assist numbers don’t look all that fancy, but the center flourished in a movement offense with the Portland Trail Blazers and Boston Celtics. Working out of the high post and the interior of the paint, Walton destroyed defenses with passes to cutting teammates and mid-range shooters. Coach John Wooden honed his intelligence and love of the game at UCLA in the 1970s.

11. Magic Johnson

Magic Johnson applied his 6’9” height and otherworldly court vision to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to five championships in the 1980s. Magic was equally adept in a half-court setting or on the open floor, where players like James Worthy and A.C. Green flanked his sides and finished easy buckets produced by Johnson’s incredible passes.

12. Isiah Thomas

Isiah Thomas’s diminutive stature and incredible speed were not replicated in the 1980s. Fans decried the rough style of the Pistons, but Thomas supplied the finesse and the offensive attack to compliment the harsh and hard-hitting tactics of the Detroit defense, leading to two NBA titles.

13. Oscar Robertson

The Big O, renowned for averaging a triple-double in a season, should be given more credit for demonstrating the power of a big combo guard to deliver the ball to his teammates. Robertson never had much to work with in Cincinnati, but he elevated poor teams to the playoffs by playing the right way and seeing things happen in the game before it even occurred.

14. Rajon Rondo

Rajon Rondo had plenty of weapons in his arsenal with the Boston Celtics. Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce would help any young point guard navigate the NBA, but the tide turned when the trio got older. Rondo’s court vision got the team easy baskets, and he turned into one of the league’s premiere players, no matter who was flanking him.

15. Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain took offense to coaches and fans, thinking all he could do was score the ball during the early 1960s, culminating in showing the world he could equally dominate with passing. In turn, Wilt became the only center to lead the league in assists per game in a season, and he’s one of the best passing centers of all time.

16. Rick Barry

Rick Barry’s underhanded free throw technique belied a healthy desire to win and a fundamental understanding of the game. Barry was one of the first forwards to use passing as a vital part of his toolbox, deceiving defenses and confusing them to his intent on the court. When you don’t know if someone is going to pass or shoot, they’re much more challenging to guard.

17. Mark Jackson

Mark Jackson only made one All-Star team, but his steady and stealthy passing for various teams, mainly the New York Knicks, improved every roster he appeared on. Jackson retired as one of the league’s all-time leading assists men with over 10,000 assists.

18. Kevin Johnson

Not just the former mayor of Sacramento, California, Kevin Johnson blared through the defense with Charles Barkley by his side on the Phoenix Suns in the 1990s. Johnson had the uncanny ability to score and pass equally, but the latter truly pushed the Suns to flourish in a tough Western Conference.

19. Kevin Porter

Kevin Porter took over games quietly by leading the league in assists four times during the late 1970s with the Washington Bullets. Like many players during this period, Porter has been entirely overshadowed by the influx of talent that took over the league during the 1980s with the introduction of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.

20. Andre Miller

Andre Miller’s steady presence on the Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers, and Portland Trail Blazers showed the world that you don’t have to be a superstar to impact the game profoundly. Miller’s role-player reputation contradicted a keen understanding of angles and pace, two qualities that make perfect passers in the league.

21. John Wall

John Wall’s speed and athleticism allowed him to quickly find Washington Wizards teammates during the 2010s. Wall’s ability to move around the court and get to places other slower guards couldn’t was his true calling. He averaged over ten assists per game for three straight seasons between 2015-2017.

22. Jason Williams

Jason Williams wasn’t the most fundamental playmaker, but his creativity and influence on the league in the 2000s must be recognized. Flash and charisma in his passing game made playmaking fun and exciting for kids, encouraging them to think about improving their teammates rather than shooting every time.