List of WNBA career steals leaders

Last updated

This article provides two lists:

A list of Women's National Basketball Association players by total career regular season steals.
A progressive list of steals leaders showing how the record has increased through the years.

Steals leaders

This is a list of Women's National Basketball Association players by total career regular season leaders in steals.

Contents

Statistics accurate as of the 2024 WNBA season. [1]
^Active WNBA player
*Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
†Not yet eligible for Hall of Fame consideration [lower-alpha 1]
RankPlayer Position(s)Team(s) played for (years)Total steals Games played [lower-alpha 2] Steals per game
average [lower-alpha 3]
1 Tamika Catchings*F Indiana Fever (2002–2016)1,0744572.35
2 Ticha Penicheiro G Sacramento Monarchs (1998–2009)
Los Angeles Sparks (2010–2011)
Chicago Sky (2012)		7644541.68
3 Sue Bird †G Seattle Storm (2002 – 2022) [lower-alpha 4] 7255801.25
4 Alana Beard G/F Washington Mystics (2004 – 2011)
Los Angeles Sparks (2012 – 2019)		7094201.69
5 Sheryl Swoopes*F/G Houston Comets (1997 – 2007) [lower-alpha 5]
Seattle Storm (2008)
Tulsa Shock (2011)		6573242.03
6 Jia Perkins G Charlotte Sting (2004–2005)
Chicago Sky (2006–2010)
San Antonio Stars (2011–2015)
Minnesota Lynx (2016 – 2017)		6344171.52
7 Sancho Lyttle F Houston Comets (2005 – 2008)
Atlanta Dream (2009 – 2017)
Phoenix Mercury (2018–2019)		6303921.61
8 Angel McCoughtry †F/G Atlanta Dream (2009–2019)
Las Vegas Aces (2020–2021)
Minnesota Lynx (2022)		6273112.02
9 Katie Douglas G/F Orlando Miracle/Connecticut Sun (2001–2007, 2014)
Indiana Fever (2008–2013)		6234121.51
10 DeLisha Milton-Jones F Los Angeles Sparks (1999–2004, 2008 – 2012)
Washington Mystics (2005–2007)
San Antonio Silver Stars (2013)
New York Liberty (2013–2014)
Atlanta Dream (2014–2015)		6194991.24
11 Nneka Ogwumike^F Los Angeles Sparks (2012–2023)
Seattle Storm (2024–present)		6183931.57
12 DeWanna Bonner^F/G Phoenix Mercury (2009–2019)
Connecticut Sun (2020–present)		6035021.20
13 Taj McWilliams-Franklin F/C Orlando Miracle/Connecticut Sun (1999–2006)
Los Angeles Sparks (2007)
Washington Mystics (2008)
Detroit Shock (2008–2009)
New York Liberty (2010)
Minnesota Lynx (2011–2012)		5804401.32
14 Tully Bevilaqua G Cleveland Rockers (1998)
Portland Fire (2000–2002)
Seattle Storm (2003–2004)
Indiana Fever (2005–2010)
San Antonio Silver Stars (2011–2012)		5734251.35
15 Courtney Vandersloot^G Chicago Sky (2011–2022)
New York Liberty (2023–present)		5334291.20
16 Yolanda Griffith*C/F Sacramento Monarchs (1999 – 2007)
Seattle Storm (2008)
Indiana Fever (2009)		5293111.70
17 Candace Parker †F/C Los Angeles Sparks (2008–2020)
Chicago Sky (2021–2022)
Las Vegas Aces (2023)		5234101.28
18 Diana Taurasi^G Phoenix Mercury (2004–present) [lower-alpha 6] 5185650.92
19 Lindsay Whalen*G Connecticut Sun (2004–2009)
Minnesota Lynx (2010–2018)		5014801.04
20 Shannon Johnson G Orlando Miracle/Connecticut Sun (1999–2003)
San Antonio Silver Stars (2004–2006)
Detroit Shock (2007)
Houston Comets (2008)
Seattle Storm (2009)		4943521.40
Alyssa Thomas^G Connecticut Sun (2014–present)3201.54
22 Lisa Leslie*C Los Angeles Sparks (1997–2009) [lower-alpha 7] 4923631.36
23 Nykesha Sales F/G Orlando Miracle/Connecticut Sun (1999–2007)4902781.76
Sylvia Fowles †C Chicago Sky (2008–2014)
Minnesota Lynx (2015–2022)		4081.20
25 Becky Hammon*G New York Liberty (1999–2006)
San Antonio Stars (2007–2014)		4884501.08

Progressive list of steal leaders

This is a progressive list of assist leaders showing how the record increased through the years. [2]

Statistics accurate as of the 2024 WNBA season.
^Active WNBA player
*Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
†Not yet eligible for Hall of Fame consideration [lower-alpha 8]
Team abbreviationsTeam(s) listed is the one player was on when she established the record.
ATL Atlanta Dream HOU Houston Comets MIN Minnesota Lynx
CHI Chicago Sky IND Indiana Fever NYL New York Liberty
CON Connecticut Sun LAS Los Angeles Sparks SAC Sacramento Monarchs
DET Detroit Shock MIA Miami Sol SEA Seattle Storm
Steals leader at the end of every season
SeasonYear-by-year leaderStealsActive player leaderTotal stealsCareer recordTotal stealsSingle-season recordStealsSeason
1997 Teresa Weatherspoon* NYL 85 Teresa Weatherspoon* NYL 85 Teresa Weatherspoon* NYL 85 Teresa Weatherspoon* NYL 851997
1998 1001851851001998
1999 782632631999
2000 Sheryl Swoopes* HOU 873283282000
2001 Debbie Black MIA 823833832001
2002 Tamika Catchings* IND 944254252002
2003 Sheryl Swoopes* HOU 774534532003
2004 Yolanda Griffith* SAC 754654652004
Nykesha Sales CON
2005 Tamika Catchings* IND 90 Sheryl Swoopes* HOU 520 Sheryl Swoopes* HOU 5202005
2006 945845842006
2007 Loree Moore NYL 755895892007
2008 Alexis Hornbuckle DET 79 Ticha Penicheiro SAC 655 Ticha Penicheiro SAC 6552008
2009 Tamika Catchings* IND 996856852009
2010 777287282010
2011 Epiphanny Prince † CHI 79 Tamika Catchings* IND 775 Tamika Catchings* IND 7752011
2012 Sancho Lyttle ATL 828458452012
2013 Angel McCoughtry † ATL 899309302013
2014 Sancho Lyttle ATL 749579572014
Angel McCoughtry †ATL
2015 Angel McCoughtry † ATL 721,0121,0122015
2016 Tamika Catchings* IND 621,0741,0742016
2017 Alana Beard LAS 71 Alana Beard LAS 6532017
2018 Maya Moore MIN 576972018
2019 Natasha Howard^ SEA 747092019
2020 Alyssa Thomas^ CON 42 Sue Bird † SEA 6592020
2021 Brittney Sykes^ LAS 586872021
2022 657252022
2023 Jordin Canada^ LAS 86 DeWanna Bonner^ CON 5562023
2024 Arike Ogunbowale^ DAL 81 Nneka Ogwumike^ SEA 6182024
SeasonYear-by-year leaderStealsActive player leaderTotal stealsCareer recordTotal stealsSingle-season recordStealsSeason


Notes

  1. ↑ A player is not eligible for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame until she has been fully retired for three calendar years.
  2. ↑ Games played in prior seasons where steals were not recorded are not included in total games played nor are they used in calculating the per game average.
  3. ↑ Average is rounded to the nearest hundredth and its calculation does not include games played in seasons before steals were officially recorded.
  4. ↑ Bird did not play the 2013 season and 2019 season because of knee surgery.
  5. ↑ Swoopes missed the 2001 season due to an injury.
  6. ↑ Taurasi did not play the 2015 season at the request of her Russian Premier League team, UMMC Ekaterinburg.
  7. ↑ Leslie did not play the 2007 season because of a pregnancy leave.
  8. ↑ A player is not eligible for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame until she has been fully retired for three calendar years.

References

  1. ↑ "WNBA Career Leaders and Records for Steals". Basketball Reference . Sports Reference . Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  2. ↑ "WNBA Progressive Leaders and Records for Steals". Basketball Reference . Sports Reference . Retrieved 1 October 2022.
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