Turnover (basketball)

In basketball, a turnover occurs when a player from one team gives possession to a member of another team by losing the ball. This can result from getting stolen, making mistakes such as stepping out or throwing the ball out of bounds, committing a violation (such as traveling) or committing an offensive foul.

Some players are prone to turnovers because of having poor court vision or making mental mistakes. Also, players who handle the ball a lot or look to pass to teammates often tend to have many turnovers. Many good players also turn over the ball often; however, this is usually because they handle the ball so often. Active players such as Allen Iverson and Steve Nash are good examples, being amongst the league leaders in turnovers. As another example the turnover leader in NBA history is Karl Malone, who won multiple MVP awards and is considered a great player. Players who have a very poor assist-to-turnover ratio (having significally more turnovers and very few assists) can also be in danger of gaining a ball hog reputation.