Rookie Nembhard’s 23‑assist night
Mavericks rookie Ryan Nembhard recorded a franchise rookie record with 23 assists, finishing with 15 points and nine rebounds and surpassing the previous mark held by Jason Kidd. (The social highlight circulated with stat context from the game thread.) (x.com).
Ryan Nembhard closed his rookie season by handing out 23 assists for Dallas, the most ever by a Mavericks rookie in one game. (nba.com) The record came in a 149-128 win over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, April 12, when Nembhard added 15 points and nine rebounds in the regular-season finale. (espn.com) Dallas said the 23 assists also were the most by any Mavericks player in a regulation game. The franchise’s overall single-game mark remains 25, set by Jason Kidd in a double-overtime game against Utah on February 8, 1996. (nba.com) Kidd had held the Mavericks’ rookie assist record with 17, set in the 1994-95 season. Nembhard passed his coach by six assists more than 30 years later. (nba.com) The game landed at the end of a fast rise for Nembhard in Dallas. He joined the Mavericks on a two-way contract after going undrafted, then had that deal converted to a multiyear standard contract on March 1, 2026. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) Before turning pro, Nembhard built his reputation as a pass-first point guard at Gonzaga. In the 2024-25 college season, he averaged 9.8 assists per game and led Division I in that category. (gozags.com) Gonzaga’s records point the same way. The school said Nembhard set its single-season assist record in 2023-24 and later broke the West Coast Conference single-season assist mark in league play. (wccsports.com) (gozags.com) His finale came in a game with several rookie milestones. Moussa Cisse finished with 17 points and 20 rebounds, tying Roy Tarpley’s Mavericks rookie rebounding record, while Cooper Flagg left after 10 minutes with a sprained left ankle. (espn.com) For Nembhard, the last box score of the season looked like the college scouting report that got him to the league: a smaller guard creating shots for everyone else, over and over, until a franchise record fell. (nba.com)
