Basketball: Most career assists. The way NBA basketball is played seems to fundamentally change every decade or so. For example, the ’80s were all about slam dunks; today the biggest stars in the league can hit seemingly impossible three-pointers. It’s also become more of a man-on-man game than it was in the ‘80s and ‘90s, meaning less chances for assists. John Stockton’s record of 15,806 career assists is safe for now. The active player with the most assists is Chris Paul, who’s been playing for 12 years and has racked up 8,251, a little over half of what Stockton’s got.