Top 5 all-time Dallas Mavericks’ assist leaders

The Dallas Mavericks were founded in 1980. Since then, the Mavericks have made 25 playoff appearances and won the 2011 NBA championship. Let’s dig into their career assists leaders by highlighting the top-five players in that department.
Harper spent 17 seasons in the NBA, including two different stints in Dallas. He maintained a consistent presence on the court, appearing in at least 77 games in each of his first eight seasons in the league. His most impressive stretch in the assist category began in 1986-87 when he averaged 7.9 assists per game. He would go on to average at least 7.0 assists in each of the next four seasons. In total, he averaged 5.9 assists per game with the Mavericks.
Davis bounced around the league early in his career, playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, Indiana Pacers and Utah Jazz over his first three seasons. He found a home in Dallas, playing 12 consecutive seasons with the Mavericks before ending his basketball career. In six of those seasons, he appeared in at least 80 games. He quickly established himself as a reliable playmaker after arriving in Dallas, averaging at least 6.2 assists in five seasons. He averaged a career-high 7.2 assists per game during the 1982-83 campaign.
Kidd began and ended his career with the Mavericks. He won the Rookie of the Year Award with the team in 1994-95, averaging 11.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game. While a good portion of his career was split between the Nets and Suns, he appeared in a total of 500 games for the Mavericks. He helped guide the Mavericks to their first and only NBA title in 2011, averaging 33 minutes throughout the 80 games that he played.
Nowitzki spent his entire career in Dallas, leading the Mavericks to the 2011 championship and earning the Finals MVP award. He was named the league MVP in 2006-07 and finished inside the top-10 in MVP voting nine times. Despite never averaging more than 3.5 assists per game in a season, Nowitzki finished his career with an average of 2.4 assists per game and played in a total of 1,522 games with the team. 
Dončić is the only active member on this list. It’s impressive that he has already reached the top five, considering he has played in the league for just six seasons. He also appeared in 66 games or fewer in four of those campaigns. However, he enters the 2024-25 campaign having averaged at least eight assists in each of the last five seasons. In 2023-24, he averaged 9.8 assists to go along with his 33.9 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Dončić won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2018-19 and has finished inside the top-eight in MVP voting in each of the last five seasons.