I’ve always loved a good pass.

When I’m watching the NCAA Tournament, the extra pass that leads to an easy bucket has always been more thrilling than the talented shooter who launches from all over the place. 

And during the lunchtime Thursday games I play in, my most self-satisfied moments are not when I score, but when I find the open man for an easy one. Because, honestly, it’s not easy.

Finally, the NBA resurgence of the 1970s was spurred by Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. And while they both could score, the thing that lifted their games to a transcendant level was their ability to get the ball to other guys on their team for baskets. Bird was one of the greatest shooters ever, but the play I think of first with him was the steal-and-pass to Dennis Johnson for a game-winning layup against the Detroit Pistons in the NBA playoffs.

There’s power in the pass.

And none more so than in this story of one player passing to another, in a high school game earlier this season. The pass was, officially, a turnover. But watching it, it’s something else. It’s what every good pass is:

A connection.

Watch: