The NBA is ramping up its public-facing advanced stats. But will its newest metrics move from analytics pages into the official box scores?

13 October 2026

While the league has not announced a change to the format, the NBA has been expanding the reach of its analysis tools. Assists are a key basketball statistic and a familiar entry in every regular box score. But for decades, a similar metric - the "hockey assist" or "secondary assist," which credits the pass that preceded an assist - has not been included in the official record. That may change as the NBA rolls out new public-facing analytics products, including some that analyze player movements frame by frame to identify passing plays.

As of this season, the NBA already tracks the "secondary assist" metric and records "potential assists" in its public stats section. This statistic, defined by the league as "any pass to a teammate who shoots within one dribble of receiving the ball," is part of the league's advanced analytics but has not been added to the standard box score.

According to the NBA, its official stats are powered by Second Spectrum's player-tracking cameras, which record the location of every player and the ball 25 times each second. That data feeds into new analytics features, like a "play finder" that lets fans search for similar plays by analyzing strings of movements.

The new stats debuted during the current season as part of a partnership between the NBA and Amazon, which powers the new analytics tools using machine learning and AWS cloud services. But how, exactly, will those stats appear?

What’s Already Official

For now, a traditional assist is the only pass metric visible in the basic box score. An assist is awarded to a player who makes a pass to a teammate that results in a basket. It's a simple metric but doesn't always tell the full story of a passing game. Currently, the NBA records and publicly displays "secondary assists" in the "passing" section of its advanced stats data, which it defines as "any pass that leads directly to an assist," but those are not part of the box score.

The NBA notes that its stat definitions come from the Elias Sports Bureau and it uses a proprietary formula to determine assists. Those formula details have not been publicly released.

New Stats Powered by Machine Learning

The NBA introduced four new public-facing stats this season, which are accessible through its new NBA Inside the Game portal. According to the league, the new stats were created to "help tell the story on the court and highlight players' contributions in new ways." The metrics include Player Movement Tracking, Play Finder, Assist Finder, and Potential Assists.

Player Movement Tracking follows a player's movement and speed during the game. The play finder is a searchable feature that lets users analyze player movements on similar plays and sequences of actions.

Assist Finder helps teams and fans evaluate possession and assist metrics, including the relative value of key assists like the traditional assist or "secondary assist." The data includes dribbles, passes, and shot attempts. This stat goes beyond the traditional assist, recognizing that the pass leading to the assist also deserves credit. However, the fact that this data exists doesn't mean it's part of the box score yet.

Advanced Stat Updates

The league explains that its base statistics on NBA.com are updated in real-time, while updated advanced stats are delayed and typically take 10-15 minutes to appear after games are completed. The statistics, which are found on NBA.com/Stats, are for viewing only and are not available for download.

What Still Needs Confirmation

The open question is if and when - and under what labels - the NBA and its broadcast partners choose to highlight the "secondary assists," now recorded, in the play-by-play and accompanying box score. Right now, there's no indication that any changes have been finalized.

While the NBA describes potential assists as a "new" stat, this metric has been available in the Stats/Tracking section for years. Coaches and analytics departments have already been able to identify secondary assists. That previously under-explored information would now receive more public visibility. This is part of a larger shift in strategy - during the NCAA tournament, for example, networks published stats like rebound differentials but not always the exact moments key plays occurred.

Box Score Ramifications

If the NBA were to include secondary assists in its box score, fans and media would gain a richer view of passing dynamics and could better evaluate ball movement. A basketball fan would be able to see all the players involved in key sequences. More than just counting assists, this addition could highlight team coordination and decision-making.

The expanding box score may reflect more strategic aspects of the game. Teams have been using tracking stats for years in their scouting and roster decisions, but fans have been waiting for more accessible information. In recent years, more stats-focused media outlets have emerged, responding to basketball fans' growing interest in advanced analytics.

Rather than confirming immediate box score changes, the most recent public steps mark a new effort to make the league's analytics products more available to fans. While experts have long accessed more granular data, the NBA says these four new metrics will be free and publicly available for the first time.

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