This is the most assists by a player in a Hornets uni since Kemba Walker somehow also got 16 back in 2014 even though he doesn’t really want to pass the ball as a general rule. Also of note: Raymond Felton got 19 for the Bobcats once, and Brevin Knight got 20. That last one kind of blows my mind. Who knew that the color commentator for the Grizzlies could drop dimes so hard?
But those dudes were point guards. This dude, this Nicolas Batum, he’s not a point guard. He’s a small forward with above average passing ability, and tonight, he went all out. He was helped by Dwight Howard hitting some perimeter jumpers (is that why his field goal percentage this year is so low, because he just wants to pretend he’s Dirk?), but you don’t just luck into 16 assists. That takes skill.
He got the assists needed for this triple-double way before the points or rebounds, needless to say. He only got his 10th point with two minutes left in a won game, and his 10th rebound about 30 seconds later. Then, his mission accomplished (someone grab the banner!), the Hornets took him out and he received the adulation of his teammates. It was really nice of Lamb and Howard to let him grab that last rebound, by the way. Big props to them for being good teammates, because you could tell they both really wanted it.