---
title: "The Complicated Relationship Between Assists and Turnovers"
subtitle: "NBA 2023-24 Season: Correlation = 0.64. Playmakers who create more assists also tend to commit more turnovers"
description: "Exploring the nuanced relationship between playmaking and ball security in the NBA, this visualization reveals how elite players navigate the trade-off between generating assists and limiting turnovers."
author: "Steven Ponce"
date: "2025-04-15"
categories: ["30DayChartChallenge", "2025"]
tags: [
"NBA", "Basketball", "Sports Analytics", "ggplot2", "hoopR", "Relationships", "Correlation Analysis", "Player Performance", "Playmaking", "Scatter Plot"
]
image: "thumbnails/30dcc_2025_15.png"
format:
html:
toc: true
toc-depth: 5
code-link: true
code-fold: true
code-tools: true
code-summary: "Show code"
editor_options:
chunk_output_type: inline
execute:
freeze: true
cache: true
error: false
message: false
warning: false
eval: true
# filters:
# - social-share
# share:
# permalink: "https://stevenponce.netlify.app/data_visualizations/30DayChartChallenge/2025/30dcc_2025_15.html"
# description: "Day 15 of #30DayChartChallenge: The Complicated Relationship Between Assists and Turnovers in the NBA. See how elite playmakers like Haliburton and LeBron balance risk and reward."
# twitter: true
# linkedin: true
# email: true
# facebook: false
# reddit: false
# stumble: false
# tumblr: false
# mastodon: true
# bsky: true
---
{#fig-1}
### <mark> **Steps to Create this Graphic** </mark>
#### 1. Load Packages & Setup
```{r}
#| label: load
#| warning: false
#| message: false
#| results: "hide"
## 1. LOAD PACKAGES & SETUP ----
suppressPackageStartupMessages({
pacman::p_load(
tidyverse, # Easily Install and Load the 'Tidyverse'
ggtext, # Improved Text Rendering Support for 'ggplot2'
showtext, # Using Fonts More Easily in R Graphs
janitor, # Simple Tools for Examining and Cleaning Dirty Data
skimr, # Compact and Flexible Summaries of Data
scales, # Scale Functions for Visualization
lubridate, # Make Dealing with Dates a Little Easier
hoopR, # Access Men's Basketball Play by Play Data
paletteer, # Comprehensive Collection of Color Palettes
ggrepel, # Automatically Position Non-Overlapping Text Labels with ggplot2
camcorder # Record Your Plot History
)
})
### |- figure size ----
gg_record(
dir = here::here("temp_plots"),
device = "png",
width = 8,
height = 8,
units = "in",
dpi = 320
)
# Source utility functions
suppressMessages(source(here::here("R/utils/fonts.R")))
source(here::here("R/utils/social_icons.R"))
source(here::here("R/utils/image_utils.R"))
source(here::here("R/themes/base_theme.R"))
```
#### 2. Read in the Data
```{r}
#| label: read
#| include: true
#| eval: true
#| warning: false
# Get player stats for 2023-2024 season
nba_players <- load_nba_player_box(seasons = 2024)
```
#### 3. Examine the Data
```{r}
#| label: examine
#| include: true
#| eval: true
#| results: 'hide'
#| warning: false
glimpse(nba_players)
skim(nba_players)
```
#### 4. Tidy Data
```{r}
#| label: tidy
#| warning: false
### |- Tidy ----
# Calculate aggregate stats (assists and turnovers)
player_stats <- nba_players |>
group_by(athlete_display_name, athlete_position_name) |>
summarize(
games = n(),
minutes = sum(minutes, na.rm = TRUE),
assists = sum(assists, na.rm = TRUE),
turnovers = sum(turnovers, na.rm = TRUE),
ast_per_36 = (assists / minutes) * 36,
tov_per_36 = (turnovers / minutes) * 36,
ast_to_ratio = assists / pmax(turnovers, 0.5),
.groups = "drop"
) |>
filter(
minutes >= 500,
!is.na(ast_per_36),
!is.na(tov_per_36),
is.finite(ast_per_36),
is.finite(tov_per_36)
) |>
mutate(
high_ast = ast_per_36 > median(ast_per_36),
high_tov = tov_per_36 > median(tov_per_36),
playmaker_type = case_when(
high_ast & !high_tov ~ "Efficient Playmakers",
high_ast & high_tov ~ "High-Risk Playmakers",
!high_ast & !high_tov ~ "Low-Usage Ball Handlers",
!high_ast & high_tov ~ "Turnover-Prone"
)
)
# Correlation
correlation <- cor(
player_stats$ast_per_36,
player_stats$tov_per_36,
use = "complete.obs"
)
# Label df
elite_players <- player_stats |>
filter(
minutes > 1500 & (
# Elite point guards and playmakers
ast_per_36 > quantile(player_stats$ast_per_36, 0.95) |
# Players with unusual assist/turnover combos
(ast_per_36 > 7 & tov_per_36 < 1.5) |
tov_per_36 > quantile(player_stats$tov_per_36, 0.95) |
# Super-efficient playmakers
(ast_per_36 > 6 & ast_to_ratio > 4) |
# manually selected a few stars
athlete_display_name %in% c(
"LeBron James", "Nikola Jokic", "Chris Paul",
"Victor Wembanyama", "Tyrese Haliburton", "Joel Embiid"
)
)
) |>
# Top N
slice_max(order_by = minutes, n = 15)
```
#### 5. Visualization Parameters
```{r}
#| label: params
#| include: true
#| warning: false
### |- plot aesthetics ----
colors <- get_theme_colors(
palette = c(
"Efficient Playmakers" = "#009E73",
"High-Risk Playmakers" = "#171738",
"Low-Usage Ball Handlers" = "#593C8F",
"Turnover-Prone" = "#DB5461"
)
)
### |- titles and caption ----
# text
title_text <- str_wrap("The Complicated Relationship Between Assists and Turnovers",
width = 60)
subtitle_text <- str_glue(
"NBA 2023-24 Season: Correlation = { round(correlation, 2) }<br>
Playmakers who create more assists also tend to commit more turnovers"
)
caption_text <- create_dcc_caption(
dcc_year = 2025,
dcc_day = 15,
source_text = "ESPN via { hoopR } package"
)
### |- fonts ----
setup_fonts()
fonts <- get_font_families()
### |- plot theme ----
# Start with base theme
base_theme <- create_base_theme(colors)
# Add weekly-specific theme elements
weekly_theme <- extend_weekly_theme(
base_theme,
theme(
# Axis elements
axis.title = element_text(color = colors$text, size = rel(0.8)),
axis.text = element_text(color = colors$text, size = rel(0.7)),
# Grid elements
panel.grid.minor = element_blank(),
panel.grid.major = element_line(color = "gray92"),
# Legend elements
legend.position = "plot",
legend.title = element_text(family = fonts$text, size = rel(0.8)),
legend.text = element_text(family = fonts$text, size = rel(0.7)),
# Plot margins
plot.margin = margin(t = 10, r = 20, b = 10, l = 20),
)
)
# Set theme
theme_set(weekly_theme)
```
#### 6. Plot
```{r}
#| label: plot
#| warning: false
### |- Plot ----
p <- ggplot(player_stats,
aes(x = ast_per_36, y = tov_per_36, color = playmaker_type)
) +
# Geoms
geom_point(
aes(size = minutes),
alpha = 0.35
) +
geom_hline(
yintercept = median(player_stats$tov_per_36),
linetype = "dotted",
color = "gray50",
alpha = 0.7
) +
geom_vline(
xintercept = median(player_stats$ast_per_36),
linetype = "dotted",
color = "gray50",
alpha = 0.7
) +
geom_smooth(
method = "lm",
formula = y ~ x,
se = FALSE,
color = "gray50",
linetype = "dashed",
alpha = 0.5,
linewidth = 0.5
) +
geom_text_repel(
data = elite_players,
aes(label = athlete_display_name),
size = 3,
max.overlaps = 10,
box.padding = 0.3,
point.padding = 0.2,
segment.color = "gray30",
min.segment.length = 0.2,
force = 5,
seed = 123
) +
# Scales
scale_x_continuous(
breaks = seq(0, 12, by = 2),
limits = c(0, max(player_stats$ast_per_36) * 1.05)
) +
scale_y_continuous(
breaks = seq(0, 5, by = 1),
limits = c(0, max(player_stats$tov_per_36) * 1.05)
) +
scale_size_continuous(
name = "Total Minutes Played",
range = c(1.5, 7),
breaks = c(1000, 2000, 3000)
) +
scale_color_manual(
values = colors$palette
) +
# Labs
labs(
title = title_text,
subtitle = subtitle_text,
caption = caption_text,
x = "Assists Per 36 Minutes",
y = "Turnovers Per 36 Minutes",
) +
# Annotate
annotate(
"text",
x = 11.5,
y = 1.8,
label = "Median assists",
fontface = "italic",
size = 2.8,
color = "gray40",
hjust = 0.5
) +
annotate(
"text",
x = 3,
y = 4.2,
label = "Median turnovers",
fontface = "italic",
size = 2.8,
color = "gray40",
hjust = 0,
angle = 90
) +
annotate(
"text",
x = 11,
y = 3.65,
label = "2:1 Assist-to-Turnover Ratio",
fontface = "italic",
size = 2.5,
color = "gray30",
angle = 27
) +
annotate(
"text",
x = 7.5,
y = 0.2,
label = "Efficient Playmakers",
fontface = "bold",
size = 3.5,
color = colors$palette[1]
) +
annotate(
"text",
x = 10,
y = 4.05,
label = "High-Risk Playmakers",
fontface = "bold",
size = 3.5,
color = colors$palette[2]
) +
annotate(
"text",
x = 1,
y = 0.2,
label = "Low-Usage Ball Handlers",
fontface = "bold",
size = 3.5,
color = colors$palette[3]
) +
annotate(
"text",
x = 1,
y = 4.05,
label = "Turnover-Prone",
fontface = "bold",
size = 3.5,
color = colors$palette[4]
) +
# Theme
theme(
plot.title = element_text(
size = rel(1.5),
family = fonts$title,
face = "bold",
color = colors$title,
margin = margin(t = 5, b = 5)
),
plot.subtitle = element_markdown(
size = rel(0.9),
family = fonts$subtitle,
color = colors$subtitle,
lineheight = 1.5,
margin = margin(t = 5, b = 15)
),
plot.caption = element_markdown(
size = rel(0.6),
family = fonts$caption,
color = colors$caption,
lineheight = 0.65,
hjust = 0.5,
halign = 0.5,
margin = margin(t = 5, b = 5)
),
)
```
#### 7. Save
```{r}
#| label: save
#| warning: false
### |- plot image ----
save_plot(
p,
type = "30daychartchallenge",
year = 2025,
day = 15,
width = 8,
height = 8
)
```
#### 8. Session Info
::: {.callout-tip collapse="true"}
##### Expand for Session Info
```{r, echo = FALSE}
#| eval: true
#| warning: false
sessionInfo()
```
:::
#### 9. GitHub Repository
::: {.callout-tip collapse="true"}
##### Expand for GitHub Repo
The complete code for this analysis is available in [`30dcc_2025_15.qmd`](https://github.com/poncest/personal-website/blob/master/data_visualizations/TidyTuesday/2025/30dcc_2025_15.qmd).
For the full repository, [click here](https://github.com/poncest/personal-website/).
:::
#### 10. References
::: {.callout-tip collapse="true"}
##### Expand for References
1. Data Sources:
- ESPN via { hoopR } package: [hoopR](https://github.com/sportsdataverse/hoopR)
:::