The ten greatest ball hawks in NBA history, ranked by official regular-season career steals.
Quick answer: 1. John Stockton, 2. Chris Paul, 3. Jason Kidd, 4. Michael Jordan, 5. Gary Payton, 6. LeBron James, 7. Maurice Cheeks, 8. Scottie Pippen, 9. Clyde Drexler, 10. Hakeem Olajuwon.
Steals are the purest measure of defensive havoc: anticipation, hands, and timing, compressed into a single number. The NBA has tracked them since 1973-74, and the career leaderboard reads like a Hall of Fame roll call — with one runaway leader nobody has come close to touching. This list ranks the ten highest regular-season career steal totals in league history, current through the completed 2025-26 season. Nine of the ten are in the Hall of Fame; the other two played last season.
The untouchable record: 537 steals clear of second place. Stockton is the only player in NBA history with 3,000+ steals — and he's also the league's all-time assists leader (15,806), the greatest two-way point-guard resume ever compiled.
A six-time NBA steals leader (2008, 2009, 2011–2014), Paul climbed past Jason Kidd into second place and sits 44 steals ahead of him. Twenty-one seasons of elite point-of-attack defense across seven franchises.
The 6'4" point guard who guarded everyone. Kidd ranks second all-time in assists (12,091) as well, making him one of two players in the top five of both the steals and assists leaderboards.
The 1988 Defensive Player of the Year paired lockdown defense with everything else. His 2.35 steals per game is the highest average of anyone in the top 10 — he simply played fewer games than the compilers above him.
"The Glove" earned the nickname by smothering the league's best scorers. His 1996 Defensive Player of the Year award made him the first point guard ever to win it.
The NBA's all-time leading scorer is also one of its great thieves — sixth in career steals after his 23rd season in 2025-26. Remarkable longevity: he cracked the top 10 while playing into his forties.
The steady hand of the 1983 champion 76ers edges Scottie Pippen by just three steals for seventh. Cheeks paired elite hands with elite decision-making for 15 seasons.
A six-time NBA champion and ten-time All-Defensive selection, Pippen was the prototype long-armed wing disruptor. He falls three steals short of Cheeks for seventh.
"Clyde the Glide" was famous for soaring to the rim, but his hands were just as dangerous in the passing lanes. He added a 1995 championship with Houston to a 15-year Hall of Fame career.
The only center in the top 10 — and the NBA's all-time blocks leader (3,830) too, making Olajuwon the most complete defensive force on this list. A two-time Defensive Player of the Year (1993, 1994).
| # | Name | Career steals | Games | Primary team | Seasons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Stockton | 3265 | 1504 | Utah Jazz (1984–2003) | 19 |
| 2 | Chris Paul | 2728 | 1370 | New Orleans Hornets / LA Clippers | 21 |
| 3 | Jason Kidd | 2684 | 1391 | Dallas Mavericks / New Jersey Nets | 19 |
| 4 | Michael Jordan | 2514 | 1072 | Chicago Bulls (1984–1998) | 15 |
| 5 | Gary Payton | 2445 | 1335 | Seattle SuperSonics (1990–2003) | 17 |
| 6 | LeBron James | 2417 | 1622 | Cleveland Cavaliers / LA Lakers | 23 |
| 7 | Maurice Cheeks | 2310 | 1101 | Philadelphia 76ers (1978–1989) | 15 |
| 8 | Scottie Pippen | 2307 | 1178 | Chicago Bulls (1987–1998) | 17 |
| 9 | Clyde Drexler | 2207 | 1086 | Portland Trail Blazers (1983–1995) | 15 |
| 10 | Hakeem Olajuwon | 2162 | 1238 | Houston Rockets (1984–2001) | 18 |
Ranked by official NBA regular-season career steals totals. Figures are taken from Basketball-Reference's career steals leaderboard and cross-checked against Wikipedia's ordered List of NBA career steals leaders, StatMuse, and Land of Basketball; all four agree on the top 10. Totals are current through the completed 2025-26 season. The NBA has recorded steals since the 1973-74 season, so pre-1974 players are not represented. Playoff steals are excluded, per the league's official career-leader standard. Inclusion: the ten highest regular-season totals.
John Stockton. The Utah Jazz point guard piled up 3,265 steals from 1984 to 2003 — 537 more than anyone else has ever managed.
No. The NBA's official career leaderboard counts regular-season games only. Playoff steals are tracked separately (LeBron James leads those, with 493).
The 1973-74 season. Steals (and blocks) became official NBA statistics that year, so every total here comes from the steals era.
Yes — two of them. Chris Paul sits second all-time at 2,728 after returning to the Clippers for 2025-26, and LeBron James is sixth at 2,417 after his 23rd season.
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