The return of Sabonis and the addition of Chris Mullin instantly provided Larry Bird with two pivots for his ball-handling strategies.
Neither of them has a career marked by a high number of assists—Sabonis's best season only had an average of 3.5 assists per game, while Mullin's was 5.
In terms of raw numbers, even the best seasons of both combined don't match the assist numbers from Gan Guoyang's season as the assist leader.
However, the statistic of assists can be somewhat misleading and deceptive, as an assist essentially is just the final pass before a score.
A strategy, from initiation to execution and finally conclusion, involves much more than just the last pass. Yet, only the last pass is counted statistically.
In fact, in a set offense, the first pass and second pass often play a more critical role than the final pass that results in an assist.
