NBA Players with the Highest Steal Averages in Their Rookie Season

Explore the NBA players who delivered the best stats ever in a 1st NBA season, ranked by regular season steals per game. See how the all-time greats compare in this top-50 historical list.

Year:

1st

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Show: Season - Playoffs / Other Stats

Other Stats

Steals Per Game

3-Pointers Made Per Game

Total

Which NBA player averaged the most steals in the Regular Season in his rookie year?

Playing for the 1977 Indiana Pacers, Don Buse averaged 3.5 steals in 81 games — the highest steals per game average by any NBA player in his 1st season.

Steals Per Game, Rookie Season

3.5 spg
Don Buse
(1977 Indiana Pacers)

Note: No game minimums were used for this list / = NBA champion in this season.

Steals Per Game in a Player's Rookie Season - Top 50

Regular Season

		Steals			Other stats
Rk	Player (Team)	Per Game	Total	Gms	Pts	Reb	Ast	Blk	3pm
1	Don Buse (1977 Pacers)	3.5	281	81	8.0	3.3	8.5	0.2	-
2	Jacob Gilyard (2023 Grizzlies)	3.0	3	1	3.0	4.0	7.0	0.0	1.0
3	Brian Taylor (1977 Kings)	2.8	199	72	17.0	3.3	4.4	0.2	-
4	Dudley Bradley (1980 Pacers)	2.6	211	82	8.4	2.7	3.1	0.6	0.0
5	George McGinnis (1976 76ers)	2.6	198	77	23.0	12.6	4.7	0.5	-
6	Ron Harper (1987 Cavaliers)	2.5	209	82	22.9	4.8	4.8	1.0	0.2
7	Mark Jackson (1988 Knicks)	2.5	205	82	13.6	4.8	10.6	0.1	0.4
8	Brevin Knight (1998 Cavaliers)	2.5	196	80	9.0	3.2	8.2	0.2	0.0
9	Quinn Buckner (1977 Bucks)	2.4	192	79	8.6	3.3	4.7	0.3	-
10	Magic Johnson (1980 Lakers)	2.4	187	77	18.0	7.7	7.3	0.5	0.1

		Steals			Other stats
Rk	Player (Team)	Per Game	Total	Gms	Pts	Reb	Ast	Blk	3pm
11	Michael Jordan (1985 Bulls)	2.4	196	82	28.2	6.5	5.9	0.8	0.1
12	Mike Gale (1977 Spurs)	2.3	191	82	10.3	3.3	5.8	0.6	-
13	Penny Hardaway (1994 Magic)	2.3	190	82	16.0	5.4	6.6	0.6	0.6
14	Bobby Jones (1977 Nuggets)	2.3	186	82	15.1	8.3	3.2	2.0	-
15	Chris Paul (2006 Hornets)	2.2	175	78	16.1	5.1	7.8	0.1	0.6
16	Ricky Rubio (2012 Timberwolves)	2.2	91	41	10.6	4.2	8.2	0.2	0.8
17	Phil Ford (1979 Kings)	2.2	174	79	15.9	2.3	8.6	0.1	-
18	Larry Kenon (1977 Spurs)	2.1	167	78	21.9	11.3	2.9	0.8	-
19	Maurice Cheeks (1979 76ers)	2.1	174	82	8.4	3.1	5.3	0.1	-
20	Tim Hardaway (1990 Warriors)	2.1	165	79	14.7	3.9	8.7	0.2	0.3

		Steals			Other stats
Rk	Player (Team)	Per Game	Total	Gms	Pts	Reb	Ast	Blk	3pm
21	Isiah Thomas (1982 Pistons)	2.1	150	72	17.0	2.9	7.8	0.2	0.2
22	Allen Iverson (1997 76ers)	2.1	157	76	23.5	4.1	7.5	0.3	2.0
23	Eddie Jones (1995 Lakers)	2.0	131	64	14.0	3.9	2.0	0.6	1.4
24	Gary Grant (1989 Clippers)	2.0	144	71	11.9	3.4	7.1	0.1	0.1
25	Mark Macon (1992 Nuggets)	2.0	154	76	10.6	2.9	2.2	0.2	0.1
26	M.L. Carr (1977 Pistons)	2.0	165	82	13.3	7.7	2.2	0.7	-
	Gary Payton (1991 Supersonics)	2.0	165	82	7.2	3.0	6.4	0.2	0.0
28	Ralph Jackson (1985 Pacers)	2.0	2	1	2.0	1.0	4.0	0.0	0.0
	Renaldo Major (2007 Warriors)	2.0	2	1	5.0	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
30	Mario Chalmers (2009 Heat)	2.0	160	82	10.0	2.8	4.9	0.1	1.4

		Steals			Other stats
Rk	Player (Team)	Per Game	Total	Gms	Pts	Reb	Ast	Blk	3pm
31	Julius Erving (1977 76ers)	1.9	159	82	21.6	8.5	3.7	1.4	-
32	Kerry Kittles (1997 Nets)	1.9	157	82	16.4	3.9	3.0	0.4	1.9
33	Jason Kidd (1995 Mavericks)	1.9	151	79	11.7	5.4	7.7	0.3	0.9
34	Ron Lee (1977 Suns)	1.9	156	82	10.2	3.6	3.2	0.4	-
35	Stephen Curry (2010 Warriors)	1.9	152	80	17.5	4.5	5.9	0.2	2.1
	Jason Williams (1999 Kings)	1.9	95	50	12.8	3.1	6.0	0.0	2.0
37	Fat Lever (1983 Trail Blazers)	1.9	153	81	7.8	2.8	5.3	0.2	0.1
38	Michael Carter-Williams (2014 76ers)	1.9	130	70	16.7	6.2	6.3	0.6	0.8
39	Slick Watts (1974 Supersonics)	1.9	115	62	8.0	2.9	5.7	0.2	-
40	Willie Anderson (1989 Spurs)	1.9	150	81	18.6	5.1	4.6	0.8	0.0

		Steals			Other stats
Rk	Player (Team)	Per Game	Total	Gms	Pts	Reb	Ast	Blk	3pm
41	Terry Cummings (1983 Clippers)	1.8	129	70	23.7	10.6	2.5	0.9	0.0
42	Gus Williams (1976 Warriors)	1.8	140	77	11.7	2.1	3.1	0.3	-
43	Sherman Douglas (1990 Heat)	1.8	145	81	14.3	2.5	7.6	0.1	0.1
44	Nerlens Noel (2015 76ers)	1.8	133	75	9.9	8.1	1.7	1.9	0.0
45	Grant Hill (1995 Pistons)	1.8	124	70	19.9	6.4	5.0	0.9	0.1
46	Richard Dumas (1993 Suns)	1.8	85	48	15.8	4.6	1.3	0.8	0.0
47	Lionel Hollins (1976 Trail Blazers)	1.8	131	74	10.8	2.4	4.1	0.4	-
48	Nate McMillan (1987 Supersonics)	1.8	125	71	5.3	4.7	8.2	0.6	0.0
49	Kevin Edwards (1989 Heat)	1.8	139	79	13.8	3.3	4.4	0.3	0.1
50	Caron Butler (2003 Heat)	1.8	137	78	15.4	5.1	2.7	0.4	0.4