pick-and-roll
Americannoun
Usage
What does pick-and-roll mean? A pick-and-roll is an offensive play in basketball where a teammate screens off a defender and then breaks free so the ball-carrier can pass it to them.
Etymology
Origin of pick-and-roll
First recorded in 1960–65
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Doncic’s wizardry in the pick-and-roll makes him an athletic rim-running center’s dream as the crafty point guard drops passes from every imaginable angle.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 19, 2025
One of the league’s pick-and-roll savants, Doncic should help Ayton rediscover the dominance he flashed while helping the Phoenix Suns reach the NBA Finals in 2021 and post a franchise-record 64 wins in 2022.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 30, 2025
Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic ran a pick-and-roll, opening Murray up for a clean look at a three-pointer with 5.6 seconds left.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 15, 2025
Kleber isn’t quite the rim protector or pick-and-roll player that Lively and Gafford are, but offers a solid inside presence.
From Seattle Times • May 28, 2024
I know y’all think it’s time for the pick-and-roll, but 1 got something else in mind.
From "The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
