A Turnover in basketball refers to when a player or a team loses control of the ball and the other team gets it before they can shoot. This can happen in a few different ways.
There are two main types of Turnovers, they include:
Forced Turnovers: Forced turnovers happen when the defense makes a good play to take the ball away.
Unforced Turnovers: These occur when the offensive player makes a mistake like throwing a bad pass that gets intercepted, losing the ball out of bounds, committing a violation like traveling or double dribble, or getting called for an offensive foul like charging.
Turnovers are considered bad for the team on offense because they lose a chance to score points and the other team gets the ball with a chance to score instead. Also, too many turnovers can change the momentum of the game.
That's why coaches always tell players to take care of the ball and limit turnovers. Statistics show that have fewer turnovers than their opponent usually have a better chance of winning the game.
Turnovers and NBA Players
Some great NBA players have been known for not committing many turnovers including Chris Paul and Kawhi Leonard.On the other hand, players known for their high turnover rates include Russell Westbrook and James Harden.
The National Basketball Association started tracking turnovers for individual players in the 1977-78 season. The record for most turnovers in an NBA game is 14, shared by John Drew in 1978 and Jason Kidd in 2000.
The record for most turnovers in an NBA playoff game is 13, made by James Harden in 2015.