{"id":709486,"date":"2026-04-13T07:06:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T07:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/709486\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T07:06:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T07:06:21","slug":"ryan-nembhard-breaks-jason-kidds-rookie-assist-record-with-23-assists-in-mavericks-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/709486\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Nembhard Breaks Jason Kidd’s Rookie Assist Record with 23 Assists in Mavericks Win"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dallas Mavericks<\/a> guard Ryan Nembhard has been one of the best rookies of the 2025-26 NBA<\/a> season. The Canadian guard had a strong finish to his first professional season by surpassing a milestone set by his head coach, Jason Kidd, in 1995.<\/p>\n

The Mavericks faced the Chicago Bulls<\/a> on Sunday for their regular-season finale. Nembhard took the opportunity to stand out and broke the single-game assist record for a rookie. When Kidd was a rookie in Dallas, he had 17 assists<\/a> on March 13, 1995, and set the record.<\/p>\n

It has been at the top of the record books for over 30 years, and Nembhard was the only rookie to reach and do more.<\/p>\n

Ryan Nembhard Showcased His Passing Talent\"Dallas<\/p>\n

Dallas Mavericks guard Ryan Nembhard (9)<\/p>\n

The Mavericks defeated the Bulls 149-128<\/a>, thanks in part to Nembhard, who finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and a career-high of 23 assists. The NBA acknowledged the young guard’s accomplishment and posted it on X.<\/p>\n

“RYAN NEMBHARD RECORDS HIS 18th ASSIST!” the league posted. “He sets a new Mavericks rookie record, passing his coach, Jason Kidd (17 on Mar. 13, 1995) \ud83e\udd2f”<\/p>\n

Nembhard showed that he’s also a promising young player in the league, just like his teammate, Cooper Flagg<\/a>. The former Duke<\/a> forward is a favorite to win the Rookie of the Year this season, while the former Gonzaga standout could be named in one of the All-Rookie teams.<\/p>\n

The Mavericks also recognized what Nembhard did against Chicago. When he reached 21 assists, he became the franchise holder of the most assists made in a regulation-length game. Fortunately for Kidd, his record of 25 assists in a 2OT game against the Utah Jazz<\/a> in 1996 still stands.<\/p>\n

Nembhard has proven his value this season as an undrafted rookie. He signed a two-way deal with the Mavericks in the offseason, and he gradually made an impact on the team. On Dec. 1, he set a career-high<\/a> of 28 points, adding three rebounds and 10 assists, leading to a 131-121 win over the Denver Nuggets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nembhard was rewarded with a multiyear deal<\/a> with the team for his strong play. Coach Kidd, one of the team’s bright lights, received great marks for his work this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cRyan\u2019s done everything we\u2019ve asked him to do,\u201d\u00a0Kidd said. \u201cHe helped us win some games — steadied the ship as a rookie undrafted. For him to be able to turn that into a contract, he\u2019s done all the work and other people who poured into him, they should get credit, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mavericks see a bright future with Nembhard as a potential foundational piece next to Flagg.<\/p>\n

Related: Mavericks Announce Cooper Flagg News After Leaving Bulls Game<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Apr 13, 2026, where it first appeared in the NBA<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Mavericks guard Ryan Nembhard has been one of the best rookies of the 2025-26 NBA season. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":709487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3771],"tags":[7,920,919,329,3824,225,149,187,3716,6,9856,490,427],"class_list":{"0":"post-709486","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bulls","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bulls","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-bulls","12":"tag-chicagobulls","13":"tag-cooper-flagg","14":"tag-dallas-mavericks","15":"tag-denver-nuggets","16":"tag-jason-kidd","17":"tag-nba","18":"tag-ryan-nembhard","19":"tag-the-mavericks","20":"tag-utah-jazz"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116396136849902829","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=709486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/709487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=709486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=709486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=709486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}