Spurs' Tony Parker Passes Michael Jordan for 8th on All-Time Playoff Assist List
Despite falling to the Miami Heat in Sunday's Game 2 of the NBA Finals, San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker passed Michael Jordan to take sole possession of eighth place on the NBA's all-time playoff assists list, per NBA.com/stats.
Parker piled up seven dimes in the 98-96 loss, bringing his career playoff total to 1,026—four ahead of Jordan's 1,022. The French point guard has an outside chance to pass seventh-place Kobe Bryant (1,040) in Tuesday's Game 3, though he'd need a whopping 14 assists just to pull even with the Black Mamba.
Looking beyond Tuesday, Parker figures to work his way further up the list before the end of the Finals, as a number of players are bunched closely together after the top three. Sixth-place Scottie Pippen had 1,048 assists in the playoffs, while fifth-place Steve Nash is still active with 1,061 and fourth-place Larry Bird had 1,062.
Sitting just 36 assists behind Bird with up to five more games to come in the Finals, Parker has a real chance to climb into fourth place by the end of the series. Third place is out of reach, however, as Jason Kidd retired with 1,263 assists in his playoff career. John Stockton holds the second spot with 1,839, while Magic Johnson is in first with 2,346, despite only playing for 13 seasons.
In addition to his spot in the top-10 of the all-time playoffs assists list, Parker ranks 13th in league history with 3,655 career playoff points, and 27th with 182 steals.
With the Spurs poised to extend their run of success for a few more seasons, Parker will only continue to cement his place in NBA history.
