Austin Reaves' alley-oop to LeBron won't count as assist - ESPN

Austin Reaves provided a highlight-reel alley-oop assist in his return to action for the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night… just don't check the official stat sheet.

Early in the second quarter of the Lakers' 125-109 win against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night, Reaves got loose on a fast break. With LeBron James trailing him and no Brooklyn defender in sight, Reaves opted to put on a show in his first game back from injury, tossing the ball off the backboard for James to finish with a dunk.

It was about as cut and dry of a highlight as you'll find, and one that Reaves and James have pulled off before — Reaves recently became the first player since at least 2000 to have thrown an alley-oop with a father-son duo after completing alley-oops to both LeBron and his son Bronny James. There's just one small problem: Technically speaking, the play doesn't count as an assist for Reaves.

According to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, a little-known provision in the NBA's rulebook means that passes thrown intentionally off the backboard to a teammate cannot be counted as assists.

This did not count as an assist for Reaves. Apparently, per the NBA rulebook, throwing a pass off the backboard intentionally to a teammate for a score can not result in an assist. Seems like an easy fix for the competition committee in the offseason. https://t.co/X0grdCgPGZ

Accordingly, ESPN's digital play-by-play from Tuesday's game describes the sequence as such:

11:00 (second quarter): Drake Powell lost ball turnover (Austin Reaves steals).

10:54 (second quarter): LeBron James makes running dunk.

Any pass between the two actions? Unseen. Reaves' assist-that-wasn't — and all future would-be alley-oop assists — will simply have to live on in the hearts of