Last season, while he was still with the Houston Rockets, Chris Paul worked his way into the top-10 NBA All-Time Steal Leaders, bumping out Karl Malone (2,085). He also surpassed Alvin Robertson (2,112) to enter the 2019-20 season as No. 9 all-time.
In his first year with the Thunder, Paul has surpassed Hakeem Olajuwon (2,162) and, most recently, Clyde Drexler (2,207) on the list. He is now seventh all-time in steals.
Scottie Pippen (2,307) is Paul’s next target, but he that’ll have to wait until 2020-21. (With 25 games left in 2019-20 and Paul needing 100 steals to pass Pippen, he would need to average four steals a night for the rest of the season to move into sixth place all-time by the end of 2019-20.)
Given he’s now seventh all-time on the NBA Steal Leaders list, it only seemed fitting to look at the seven best steals he’s had since he joined the Thunder:
7. Back on December 18, Paul had two steals in OKC’s 126-122 with over the Memphis Grizzlies — one of his 25 multi-steal performances of the season.
He best steal came late in the fourth. This one was a display of Paul’s ability to clog the passing lanes, even when it may seem like he’s lost sight of his man.
6. Wen the Thunder narrowly knocked off the Chicago Bulls 109-106, Zach LaVine went off for 39 points.
But he still made mistakes — like when he got past Paul thanks to a screen midway through the third quarter but then fell asleep at the wheel, allowing Paul to sneak in and poke the ball loose.
Paul then quickly scored two of his 30 points in the win.
5. It’s not easy to get four steals in an NBA game, never mind against one of the best teams in the league. But Paul did just that against the Los Angeles Clippers, on the road.
Furthermore, the game was a defensive battle. The Clippers walked away with the 90-88 win, but Paul did all he could to earn a different outcome.
One of Paul’s biggest plays of the game came in the closing minute of the game when he picked Paul George’s pocket as the former Thunder wing drove to the rim.
4. At first glance, it looked like Paul blocked an ugly shot attempt by Wesley Matthews late in OKC’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks on November 10. But that was not the case.
Thit was just another example of a moment in a tightly contested game where Paul’s opponent underestimated him, and he made them pay.
3. Paul’s four-steal game against the Clippers wasn’t his only one in Los Angeles in 2019-20. In fact, the day after he did so against the Clippers, Paul had four steals against the Lakers.
His biggest one came when LeBron James tried to back Paul into the paint late in the Lakers’ 112-107 win. The OKC point guard broke free and poked the ball away from James, helping jumpstart a fastbreak.
2. Although it wasn’t necessarily his prettiest steal, CP3’s 2,163rd brought him closer to his goal.
“Trying to catch Mo Cheeks.” Paul said after passing Olajuwon for No. 8 all-time on the NBA Steal leaderboard.
Cheeks is currently fifth on the list with 2,130 steals.
1. Of course, Paul’s biggest steal as a member of the Thunder is his latest record-setting one.
