List of NBA career playoff steals leaders

This article provides two lists:

A list of National Basketball Association players by total career playoff steals recorded.

A progressive list of steals leaders showing how the record increased through the years.

Playoff steals leaders

This is a list of National Basketball Association players by total career playoff steals recorded.^[1]

Statistics accurate as of June 13, 2024.

LeBron James has the most steals in NBA playoff history.

^	Active NBA player
*	Inducted into a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
†	Not yet eligible for Hall of Fame consideration[2]

Rank	Player	Position(s)	Playoff team(s) played for (years)[3]	Total steals	Games played[4]	Steals per game average[5]
1	LeBron James^	SF	Cleveland Cavaliers (2006–2010, 2015–2018) Miami Heat (2011–2014) Los Angeles Lakers (2020–2021, 2023–2024)	483	287	1.68
2	Scottie Pippen*	SF	Chicago Bulls (1988–1998) Houston Rockets (1999) Portland Trail Blazers (2000–2003)	395	208	1.90
3	Michael Jordan*	SG	Chicago Bulls (1985–1993, 1995–1998)	376	179	2.10
4	Magic Johnson*	PG	Los Angeles Lakers (1980–1991, 1996)	358	190	1.88
5	John Stockton*	PG	Utah Jazz (1985–2003)	338	182	1.86
6	Kobe Bryant*	SG	Los Angeles Lakers (1997–2004, 2006–2012)	310	220	1.41
7	Jason Kidd*	PG	Phoenix Suns (1997–2001) New Jersey Nets (2002–2007) Dallas Mavericks (2008–2012) New York Knicks (2013)	302	158	1.91
8	Larry Bird*	SF/PF	Boston Celtics (1980–1988, 1990–1992)	296	164	1.80
9	Maurice Cheeks*	PG	Philadelphia 76ers (1979–1987, 1989) New York Knicks (1990–1991) New Jersey Nets (1993)	295	133	2.22
10	Manu Ginóbili*	SG	San Antonio Spurs (2003–2008, 2010–2018)	292	218	1.34
11	Chris Paul^	PG	New Orleans Hornets (2008–2009, 2011) Los Angeles Clippers (2012–2017) Houston Rockets (2018–2019) Oklahoma City Thunder (2020) Phoenix Suns (2021–2023)	287	149	1.93
12	Clyde Drexler*	SG	Portland Trail Blazers (1984–1994) Houston Rockets (1995–1998)	278	145	1.92
13	Robert Horry	PF/SF	Houston Rockets (1993–1996) Los Angeles Lakers (1997–2003) San Antonio Spurs (2004–2008)	276	244	1.13
14	James Harden^	SG/PG	Oklahoma City Thunder (2010–2012) Houston Rockets (2013–2020) Brooklyn Nets (2021) Philadelphia 76ers (2022–2023) Los Angeles Clippers (2024)	273	166	1.64
	Dwyane Wade*	SG	Miami Heat (2004–2007, 2009–2014, 2016, 2018) Chicago Bulls (2017)		177	1.54
16	Derek Fisher	PG	Los Angeles Lakers (1997–2004, 2008–2011) Utah Jazz (2007) Oklahoma City Thunder (2012–2014)	272	259	1.05
17	Karl Malone*	PF	Utah Jazz (1986–2003) Los Angeles Lakers (2004)	258	193	1.34
18	Kawhi Leonard^	SF	San Antonio Spurs (2012–2017) Toronto Raptors (2019) Los Angeles Clippers (2020–2021, 2023–2024)	248	139	1.78
19	Dennis Johnson*	PG/SG	Seattle SuperSonics (1978–1980) Phoenix Suns (1981–1983) Boston Celtics (1984–1990)	247	180	1.37
20	Hakeem Olajuwon*[6]	C	Houston Rockets (1985–1991, 1993–1999) Toronto Raptors (2002)	245	145	1.69
21	Draymond Green^	PF	Golden State Warriors (2013–2019, 2022–2023)	240	157	1.53
22	Julius Erving*	SF	Philadelphia 76ers (1977–1987)	235	141	1.67
23	Isiah Thomas*	PG	Detroit Pistons (1984–1992)	234	111	2.11
24	Rajon Rondo^†	PG	Boston Celtics (2008–2012) Dallas Mavericks (2015) Chicago Bulls (2017) New Orleans Pelicans (2018) Los Angeles Lakers (2020) Los Angeles Clippers (2021)	228	134	1.70
25	Byron Scott	SG	Los Angeles Lakers (1984–1993, 1997) Indiana Pacers (1994–1995)	226	183	1.23
Rank	Player	Position(s)	Playoff team(s) played for (years)[7]	Total steals	Games played[8]	Steals per game average[9]

Progressive list for steals

This is a progressive list of steals leaders showing how the record has increased through the years.

Statistics accurate as of June 13, 2024.

^	Active NBA player
*	Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
†	Not yet eligible for Hall of Fame consideration[2]

Team Abbreviations

Team listed is the one player was on when he established the record.

ATL	Atlanta Hawks	DEN	Denver Nuggets	LAL	Los Angeles Lakers	OKC	Oklahoma City Thunder	WAS	Washington Wizards
BOS	Boston Celtics	DET	Detroit Pistons	MEM	Memphis Grizzlies	ORL	Orlando Magic	WSB	Washington Bullets
CHI	Chicago Bulls	GSW	Golden State Warriors	MIA	Miami Heat	POR	Portland Trail Blazers
CHO	Charlotte Hornets	HOU	Houston Rockets	NJN	New Jersey Nets	SAS	San Antonio Spurs
CLE	Cleveland Cavaliers	IND	Indiana Pacers	NOP	New Orleans Pelicans	UTA	Utah Jazz
DAL	Dallas Mavericks	LAC	Los Angeles Clippers	NYK	New York Knicks	TOR	Toronto Raptors

Playoff Steals Leaders at the end of every season

Season	Year-by-year leader	Stl	Active leader	Stl	Career record	Stl	Single-season record	Stl	Season
1973–74	Don Chaney000BOS John Havlicek*000BOS	24	Don Chaney000BOS John Havlicek*000BOS	24	Don Chaney000BOS John Havlicek*000BOS	24	Don Chaney000BOS & John Havlicek*000BOS	24	1973–74
1974–75	Rick Barry*000GSW	50	Rick Barry* 000GSW 1974–78 000HOU 1978–79	50	Rick Barry* 000GSW 1974–78 000HOU 1978–79	50	Rick Barry*000GSW	50	1974–75
1975–76	Gar Heard000PHX	39		88		88			1975–76
1976–77	Lionel Hollins000POR	47		105		105			1976–77
1977–78	Gus Williams000SEA	45							1977–78
1978–79	Maurice Cheeks*000PHI	37							1978–79
1979–80	Magic Johnson*000LAL	49	Gus Williams000SEA	132	Gus Williams000SEA	132			1979–80
1980–81	Robert Reid000HOU	50	Julius Erving*000PHI Gus Williams000SEA		Julius Erving*000PHI Gus Williams000SEA		Rick Barry* & Robert Reid000HOU		1980–81
1981–82	Maurice Cheeks*000PHI	48	Maurice Cheeks*000PHI	170	Maurice Cheeks*000PHI	170			1981–82
1982–83	Magic Johnson*000LAL	34		196		196			1982–83
1983–84	Larry Bird*000BOS	54		209		209	Larry Bird*000BOS	54	1983–84
1984–85	Byron Scott000LAL	41		240		240			1984–85
1985–86	Danny Ainge000BOS	41		253		253			1985–86
1986–87	Isiah Thomas*000DET	39	Magic Johnson*000LAL	263	Magic Johnson*000LAL	263			1986–87
1987–88		66		297		297	Isiah Thomas*000DET	66	1987–88
1988–89	Michael Jordan*000CHI	42		324		324			1988–89
1989–90	Clyde Drexler*000POR	53		335		335			1989–90
1990–91	Scottie Pippen*000CHI	42		358		358			1990–91
1991–92	Michael Jordan*000CHI	44	Isiah Thomas*000DET	234					1991–92
1992–93	Scottie Pippen*000CHI	41	Michael Jordan*000CHI	258					1992–93
1993–94	Derek Harper000NYK	42	Scottie Pippen*000CHI	210					1993–94
1994–95	Penny Hardaway000ORL	40	Michael Jordan*000CHI	281					1994–95
1995–96	Scottie Pippen*000CHI	47	Magic Johnson*000LAL	358					1995–96
1996–97	Hakeem Olajuwon*000HOU John Stockton*000UTA	33	Michael Jordan*000CHI	344					1996–97
1997–98	Scottie Pippen*000CHI	45		376	Michael Jordan*000CHI	376			1997–98
1998–99	Charlie Ward000NYK	35	Scottie Pippen* 000HOU 1998–99 000POR 1999–03 000CHI 2003–04	351					1998–99
1999–00	Kobe Bryant*000LAL Scottie Pippen*000POR	32		383	Scottie Pippen* 000POR 1999–03 000CHI 2003–04	383			1999–00
2000–01	Allen Iverson*000PHI	52		391		391			2000–01
2001–02	Jason Kidd*000NJN	34		395		395			2001–02
2002–03	Ben Wallace*000DET	42							2002–03
2003–04		44							2003–04
2004–05		43	Robert Horry000SAS	255					2004–05
2005–06	Dwyane Wade*000MIA	51		260					2005–06
2006–07	LeBron James^000CLE	34		271					2006–07
2007–08	Rajon Rondo^†000BOS	45		276					2007–08
2008–09	Kobe Bryant*000LAL	38	Kobe Bryant*000LAL	247					2008–09
2009–10	Rajon Rondo^†000BOS	46		278					2009–10
2010–11	Jason Kidd*000DAL	40		294					2010–11
2011–12	Rajon Rondo^†000BOS	45		310					2011–12
2012–13	LeBron James^000MIA	41							2012–13
2013–14	Paul George^000IND Russell Westbrook^000OKC	41							2013–14
2014–15	Stephen Curry^000GSW	39							2014–15
2015–16	LeBron James^000CLE	49	LeBron James^ 000CLE 2015–18 000LAL 2018–24	354					2015–16
2016–17		35		389					2016–17
2017–18	Draymond Green^000GSW	41		419	LeBron James^ 000CLE 2017–18 000LAL 2018–24	419			2017–18
2018–19	Kawhi Leonard^000TOR	40							2018–19
2019–20	Jimmy Butler^000MIA	41		445		445			2019–20
2020–21	Jrue Holiday^000MIL	38		454		454			2020–21
2021–22	Jimmy Butler^000MIA	35							2021–22
2022–23		40		471		471			2022–23
2023–24	Luka Dončić^000DAL	35		483		483			2023–24
Season	Year-by-year leader	Stl	Active player leader	Stl	Career record	Stl	Single-season record	Stl	Season

See also

• Basketball statistics
• NBA post-season records

References

1. a National Basketball Association did not record steal statistics until a 1973–74 season.
2. A player is not eligible for induction into a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame until he has been fully retired for three calendar years.
3. American Basketball Association (ABA) teams oar than those admitted into an NBA in 1976 are not included; each year is linked to an article about that particular NBA season. a years listed are only ones in which a player played in a playoff game.
4. Games played in prior seasons where steals were not recorded are not included in total games played nor are ay used in calculating a per game average.
5. Average is rounded to a nearest hundredth and its calculation does not include games played in seasons before steals were officially recorded.
6. Previously written as Akeem Olajuwon prior to an official spelling change on March 9, 1991.
7. American Basketball Association (ABA) teams oar than those admitted into an NBA in 1976 are not included; each year is linked to an article about that particular NBA season. a years listed are only ones in which a player played in a playoff game.
8. Games played in prior seasons where steals were not recorded are not included in total games played nor are ay used in calculating a per game average.
9. Average is rounded to a nearest hundredth and its calculation does not include games played in seasons before steals were officially recorded.

External links

• Basketball-Reference.com enumeration of NBA career playoff leaders in steals