Listing the 3 active players with most seasons leading the NBA in assists per game
Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns have dominated the 2021-22 NBA regular season, coming off an appearance in the NBA Finals in the 2021 playoffs. The Suns have been great with and without the veteran, but CP3 has certainly made his presence felt, as he's currently leading the league in assists per game.
If he keeps it up in the final stretch of the season, which is quite likely, Paul will become only the sixth player to win the assists title five times.
The 'Point God' is definitely a master of the point guard position and an efficient passer. Unlike some other players who average a high number of assists for simply having the ball more than everyone else, Paul is a provider of high-quality passes and creates easy shots for his teammates.
Moreover, he's not on the court just looking to pass, as he's more than capable of going off by himself and putting up big scoring nights. That's what makes him so difficult for defenses to deal with.
In this article, we will focus on the assist-per-game numbers and give you the three active players with most seasons leading the league in that department. Of course, leading the NBA in assists per game gives you the assists championship today. But that wasn't the case in the early seasons of the league, as the total of assists determined that award until the 1968-69 campaign.
Without further ado, let us take a look.
#3 Rajon Rondo - 3
Rajon Rondo is one of the best pure point guards in recent NBA times, as he is really a pass-first player who can manipulate defenses and create easy scoring chances for his teammates.
What makes Rondo's passing ability even more impressive is the fact that he's not a lethal shooter or scorer, which would make you think that defenses could control him, but it was quite hard to track him on the court during his prime.
Rondo has led the NBA in assists per game three times throughout his career, which is the second-most among active players. The two-time champion won the assists title in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons with the Boston Celtics, and then did so with the Sacramento Kings in the 2015-16 campaign.
Rondo averages 7.9 assists per game in his career.
#2 Russell Westbrook - 3
Russell Westbrook is currently getting plenty of criticism for his play with the LA Lakers, but the former NBA MVP had a few seasons in which he put up unique numbers, such as averaging a triple-double for the entire season multiple times in his career.
Moreover, Westbrook is one of six players in league history to lead the league in scoring and assists throughout a career. Some of those assists numbers come from the second-highest Usage Percentage in league history (behind Michael Jordan), but also because Westbrook was an adequate passer for most of his career.
This season, a loss of confidence (although it doesn't show) could be to blame for some of his ill-advised decisions and turnovers, although some of those tendencies could be seen back in his best days as well.
For his career, Westbrook has led the NBA three times in assists per game (in three of the last five seasons). He is second on this list because his career average of assists per game (8.4) is higher than Rajon Rondo's.
#1 Chris Paul - 4
Chris Paul is on course to leading the NBA in assists per game for the fifth time in his illustrious career. He will join the likes of John Stockton (nine), Bob Cousy (eight), Oscar Robertson (six), Jason Kidd and Steve Nash (five each) as the only players to reach that number in NBA history.
Paul is currently averaging a league-high 10.8 assists per game and is one of two players averaging more than 10 assists per game (James Harden averages 10.1 at the moment).
In his career, CP3 already has four assists titles, two with the New Orleans Hornets and two with the LA Clippers. With a third different team on the list, Paul would join Kevin Porter as the only player to lead the league in assists per game with three different teams.
CP3's career average of 9.5 assists per game ranks fourth in NBA history, behind Magic Johnson (11.1), John Stockton (10.5) and Oscar Robertson (9.51).