NBA Players with the Highest Steal Averages in Playoffs in Their 2nd Season

Explore the NBA players who delivered the best stats ever in a 2nd NBA season, ranked by playoff steals per game. See how the all-time greats compare in this top-50 historical list.

Year:

2nd

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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 Playoffs in his 2nd year?

Playing for the 1979 New Jersey Nets, Eddie Jordan averaged 4.0 steals in 2 games — the highest playoff steals per game average by any NBA player in his 2nd season.

Steals Per Game, 2nd Season

4.0 spg
Eddie Jordan
(1979 New Jersey Nets)

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

Steals Per Game in a Player's 2nd Season - Top 50

Playoffs

		Steals			Other stats
Rk	Player (Team)	Per Game	Total	Gms	Pts	Reb	Ast	Blk	3pm
1	Eddie Jordan (1979 Nets)	4.0	8	2	19.0	7.5	8.5	1.5	-
2	Tim Hardaway (1991 Warriors)	3.1	28	9	25.2	3.7	11.2	0.8	1.9
3	Lance Blanks (1992 Pistons)	3.0	3	1	2.0	1.0	3.0	0.0	0.0
	Slick Watts (1975 Supersonics)	3.0	27	9	11.1	3.7	7.1	0.4	-
5	Baron Davis (2001 Hornets)	2.8	28	10	17.8	4.4	5.8	0.5	2.0
6	Ron Harper (1988 Cavaliers)	2.8	11	4	17.8	5.0	3.8	1.0	0.0
7	Magic Johnson (1981 Lakers)	2.7	8	3	17.0	13.7	7.0	1.0	0.0
8	Clyde Drexler (1985 Trail Blazers)	2.6	23	9	16.7	6.1	9.2	1.0	0.2
9	Maurice Cheeks (1980 76ers)	2.5	45	18	11.6	4.1	6.2	0.2	0.1
	Terry Porter (1987 Trail Blazers)	2.5	10	4	17.0	4.8	10.0	0.5	0.5

		Steals			Other stats
Rk	Player (Team)	Per Game	Total	Gms	Pts	Reb	Ast	Blk	3pm
11	Lionel Hollins (1977 Trail Blazers)	2.5	47	19	17.3	2.7	4.5	0.3	-
12	Stephon Marbury (1998 Timberwolves)	2.4	12	5	13.8	3.2	7.6	0.0	1.4
	Dominique Wilkins (1984 Hawks)	2.4	12	5	19.2	8.2	2.2	0.2	0.0
14	Michael Adams (1987 Bullets)	2.3	7	3	6.3	2.3	3.3	0.0	0.7
	Michael Jordan (1986 Bulls)	2.3	7	3	43.7	6.3	5.7	1.3	0.3
	Alvin Robertson (1986 Spurs)	2.3	7	3	9.0	4.7	6.3	0.3	0.0
17	Larry Bird (1981 Celtics)	2.3	39	17	21.9	14.0	6.1	1.0	0.2
18	Charles Barkley (1986 76ers)	2.3	27	12	25.0	15.8	5.6	1.3	0.1
19	Karl Malone (1987 Jazz)	2.2	11	5	20.0	9.6	1.2	0.8	0.0
20	Byron Scott (1985 Lakers)	2.2	41	19	16.9	2.7	2.6	0.2	0.5

		Steals			Other stats
Rk	Player (Team)	Per Game	Total	Gms	Pts	Reb	Ast	Blk	3pm
21	Caron Butler (2004 Heat)	2.2	28	13	12.8	8.5	2.4	0.5	0.2
22	Nick Van Exel (1995 Lakers)	2.1	21	10	20.0	3.8	7.3	0.3	2.1
23	Otis Birdsong (1979 Kings)	2.0	10	5	21.0	3.6	1.8	0.0	-
	Quinn Buckner (1978 Bucks)	2.0	18	9	11.2	3.0	6.9	0.1	-
	Don Buse (1978 Suns)	2.0	4	2	4.0	2.5	2.0	0.0	-
	Paul Graham (1993 Hawks)	2.0	4	2	2.0	1.5	1.0	0.0	0.0
	Kirk Hinrich (2005 Bulls)	2.0	12	6	21.2	3.7	5.8	0.7	2.8
	Jrue Holiday (2011 76ers)	2.0	10	5	14.2	3.8	5.6	0.4	2.2
	Eddie Jones (1996 Lakers)	2.0	8	4	17.3	5.3	1.5	0.3	2.5
	Bernard King (1979 Nets)	2.0	4	2	26.0	5.5	3.5	0.0	-
	Jake Layman (2018 Trail Blazers)	2.0	2	1	6.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	0.0
	Ron Lee (1978 Suns)	2.0	4	2	6.0	3.0	1.5	0.0	-
	Hakeem Olajuwon (1986 Rockets)	2.0	40	20	26.9	11.8	2.0	3.5	0.0

		Steals			Other stats
Rk	Player (Team)	Per Game	Total	Gms	Pts	Reb	Ast	Blk	3pm
34	Penny Hardaway (1995 Magic)	1.9	40	21	19.6	3.8	7.7	0.7	1.9
35	Blake Griffin (2012 Clippers)	1.8	20	11	19.1	6.9	2.5	0.9	0.0
36	Kawhi Leonard (2013 Spurs)	1.8	37	21	13.5	9.0	1.0	0.5	1.1
37	Derrick Coleman (1992 Nets)	1.8	7	4	22.3	11.3	5.3	1.0	0.3
	Ed Ratleff (1975 Rockets)	1.8	14	8	11.1	6.6	4.4	0.1	-
	Myles Turner (2017 Pacers)	1.8	7	4	10.8	6.8	0.8	1.3	0.0
40	Walter Davis (1979 Suns)	1.7	26	15	22.1	4.6	5.3	0.3	-

		Steals			Other stats
Rk	Player (Team)	Per Game	Total	Gms	Pts	Reb	Ast	Blk	3pm
41	Rajon Rondo (2008 Celtics)	1.7	45	26	10.2	4.1	6.6	0.3	0.2
42	Draymond Green (2014 Warriors)	1.7	12	7	11.9	8.3	2.9	1.7	1.1
	Sidney Moncrief (1981 Bucks)	1.7	12	7	14.0	6.7	2.9	0.4	0.0
	Amen Thompson (2025 Rockets)	1.7	12	7	15.7	6.9	3.3	0.9	0.1
45	Manu Ginobili (2004 Spurs)	1.7	17	10	13.0	5.3	3.1	0.1	1.0
	Jalen Williams (2024 Thunder)	1.7	17	10	18.7	6.8	5.4	0.5	1.5
47	Bob Gross (1977 Trail Blazers)	1.7	32	19	14.1	5.9	4.2	0.8	-
48	Billy Ray Bates (1981 Trail Blazers)	1.7	5	3	28.3	2.3	4.3	0.3	0.3
	Walter Berry (1988 Spurs)	1.7	5	3	22.0	7.0	2.0	0.7	0.0
	Adrian Dantley (1978 Lakers)	1.7	5	3	17.0	8.3	3.7	1.0	-
	T.R. Dunn (1979 Trail Blazers)	1.7	5	3	3.3	2.0	1.3	0.0	-
	Phil Ford (1980 Kings)	1.7	5	3	17.3	2.0	8.7	0.0	1.0
	Rod Foster (1985 Suns)	1.7	5	3	6.7	1.0	2.3	0.0	0.0
	Andrew Goudelock (2013 Lakers)	1.7	5	3	12.0	1.7	1.0	0.0	0.7
	Reggie Lewis (1989 Celtics)	1.7	5	3	20.3	7.0	3.7	0.0	0.0
	Johnny Moore (1982 Spurs)	1.7	15	9	10.4	3.4	10.3	0.7	0.0
	Marcus Smart (2016 Celtics)	1.7	10	6	12.0	4.5	3.0	0.8	1.8
	Russell Westbrook (2010 Thunder)	1.7	10	6	20.5	6.0	6.0	0.2	0.8
	Brian Winters (1976 Bucks)	1.7	5	3	27.3	2.3	5.0	0.7	-