Feel like I was robbed on this one in 2K Pro-Am last night:
Unfortunately, it's an issue that persists in MyCAREER and 2K Pro-Am, and possibly other modes too, though it's more noticeable in those two. Sometimes, assists just don't count, because the game doesn't seem to feel like it. Sometimes, if a teammate fumbles a pass a bit or there's a slight deflection, it negates the assist. Other times, it doesn't. Sometimes, we can inbound the ball, run the length of the floor and score, or take our time with pump fakes and dribbles from the perimeter, and it'll count as an assist. Other times, stepping back or taking a couple of dribbles will negate the assist.
I'm averaging 10 assists per game in 2K Pro-Am, and around 16 assists per game in MyCAREER right now, so obviously stat-registering logic isn't completely broken or anything. More often than not, when I or one of the other guys on NLSC THRILLHO make a pass that should tally an assist, an assist does indeed get tallied. But those inconsistencies are frustrating.
It's a similar situation with steals. If you poke the ball loose and pick it up, you tend to get credited properly; I don't recall seeing otherwise. However, in 2K Pro-Am at least, in situations where you knock the ball loose and someone else picks it up, the game seems to alternate between crediting the steal to the player who initially got a hand on the ball, and the player who picks it up. MyCAREER consistently credits the steal to the first player in those situations (which I believe is the correct approach as far as NBA statisticians handle it in real life), but 2K Pro-Am definitely swings back and forth.
In some respects, it's kind of a minor and selfish gripe. At the end of the day, it's about playing well as a team, and making sure that you're ahead on the scoreboard by the final buzzer. At the same time, everyone likes to post stats (and earn that all-important VC!), and get properly credited for what they're doing out on the court. It's also a bit frustrating because these issues with stats not registering in certain situations have been happening for a few games now, and frustration only builds with legacy issues.
Hopefully, it can be fixed. If there's any feedback I could offer to the gameplay devs at Visual Concepts that might possibly help, it would be that the biggest issues seem to be catches that aren't 100% clean (even if an opponent doesn't get a hand on the ball), or when there's a few dribbles in the mid-range. As I said, the game seems to be very generous at tallying assists when it comes to driving from the perimeter or even the backcourt, but they get negated a lot more often when the recipient catches the ball at around 15-18 feet, and makes a couple of moves, such as backing out for a three, or going from elbow to elbow. As for steals, it's about as straightforward as mentioned above; the player credited with the steal, at least in 2K Pro-Am, randomly swings between the player knocking the ball loose and the player who collects it. If you collect your own loose ball, there's no problem, at least in my observation.