ThinkSoftware | Hawks

594 | 21 hours ago

The gap between 1 and 2 is the same as the gap between 2 and 66

Zeeron1 | Thunder

170 | 20 hours ago

And his nickname is even more elite than his defense

TrueDannemann

198 | 20 hours ago

The Great Barrier Thief? Top 5 sports nicknames ever

jimithelizardking | Nuggets

13 | 20 hours ago

Anyone know who coined it?

beastfighter99

63 | 19 hours ago

supposedly it was Larry Nance Jr. Dyson talks about it during his Young Man and the Three podcast appearance

itgoesdownandup

2 | 18 hours ago

I like Dyson Vacuum too

TrueDannemann

2 | 16 hours ago

Maybe when he plays a series against a superstar and smothers him on defense we can call him Dyson Sphere

ForneauCosmique | Spurs

1 | 8 minutes ago

Especially since the Great Barrier Reef is fading away

WhatIsThisAccountFor | Wizards

-17 | 18 hours ago

It’s a cool nickname, but I don’t get dyson’s connection to the actual Great Barrier Reef. Is it just a random thing with no correlation that sounds cool?

moistie | Australia

51 | 18 hours ago

Dyson is Australian, the Great Barrier Reef is off the coast of Australia.

SirJoeffer | 76ers

7 | 18 hours ago

Source?

noknownallergies | Timberwolves

24 | 18 hours ago

My granddad bought an encyclopedia kit from a door to door salesman back in the 50’s. Great Barrier Reef was in there.

SirJoeffer | 76ers

16 | 18 hours ago

Lmao so it’s from a book and OP thinks its a real thing

noknownallergies | Timberwolves

7 | 18 hours ago

Not a book, an Encyclopedia

BenShelZonah

2 | 16 hours ago

Finally someone gets it

dipdipderp | Thunder

6 | 18 hours ago

In the book? And he didn’t think to return it to Australia? Rude.

noknownallergies | Timberwolves

5 | 18 hours ago

My Granddad was legit, he had polio(survived) and harmed until the day he died. He didn’t steal no Great Barrier Reef neither. He only had the Encyclopedia which purchased legitimately from a door to door salesman.

ThinkSoftware | Hawks

5 | 17 hours ago

Dude is calling your grandpa a Great Barrier Reef thief, you’ve got beef

moistie | Australia

1 | 18 hours ago

Civilization VI - real World map

1manadeal2btw | Nuggets

4 | 18 hours ago

It’s funny that he’s from Bendigo though, nowhere near the GBR. But Great Gold Thief doesn’t sound as good.

WhatIsThisAccountFor | Wizards

1 | 17 hours ago

Thank you, that all adds up now!

MugiwaraNoUser

6 | 18 hours ago

but I don’t get dyson’s connection to the actual Great Barrier Reef

Dyson is Australian

WhatIsThisAccountFor | Wizards

4 | 17 hours ago

Oh I had no idea. Thank you!

1manadeal2btw | Nuggets

1 | 18 hours ago

There’s always a connection

ARomanGuy

28 | 19 hours ago

I know Detroit has been bringing him back slowly, but I’d like to see Ausar get more than 19 mins a game. He’s grabbing 2.6 steals per 36, good for 2nd in the league right now if he qualified (don’t think he has the games/minutes).

Still a bit off Daniels, which is wild

cantfindanamenumbers | Grizzlies

23 | 19 hours ago

Caruso also at 3.3 steals per 36. Thunder are insane

random-50

15 | 19 hours ago

When so many on the team are good at them, it ups everybody’s rate. There’s no safe outlets when under pressure.

918cyd

3 | 17 hours ago

Caruso is not a good player to use per-36 stats for, if extrapolating productivity (fine for if you want to measure his impact in the time he’s on the court). Guys like him or Jalen Suggs play so hard that increasing their workload makes injuries all but inevitable, so if Caruso played starters minutes, he’d be missing a ton of games every season. A younger Marcus Smart playstyle comes to mind, too.

Briggity_Brak | Tampa Bay Raptors

8 | 18 hours ago

Yeah. All i got out of this is Dyson Daniels is amazing, and everyone else is a rounding error.

cough_landing_on_you

281 | 21 hours ago

Three steals haven’t been done since 1991.

RCA1202

187 | 21 hours ago

The craziest thing is he isn’t even going to win DPOY because of that alien in San Antonio

ThinkSoftware | Hawks

324 | 20 hours ago

There’s no need to bring Wemby’s immigration status into this

internallylinked | Hawks

33 | 20 hours ago

Australia should be the 52nd state and Dyson can be the domestic defensive superstar.

AQuietListener | Cavaliers

6 | 19 hours ago

“New Florida”

noknownallergies | Timberwolves

2 | 18 hours ago

What’s the slur for Australian rednecks? I think It’s something with a B like Brogdon or something?

SamendlessJardine | Australia

11 | 18 hours ago

Bogan

BenShelZonah

6 | 16 hours ago

Bogdanović

N0NaMe1217

1 | 14 hours ago

That’s insulting, they should just be called Florida and change Florida to Old Florida.

Tradition-is-dead

1 | 14 hours ago

put an e on the end of old and weve got a thriving Florida country club thatll love the free marketing.

gabdex | Raptors

29 | 21 hours ago

Who’s essentially got it on lock every year as long as he’s healthy.

Iamkonkerz | OKC

0 | 18 hours ago

Hector Banana-Bread has been CRAZYYY!!

EchoHevy5555

-21 | 20 hours ago

To be fair he’s not even a contender for best defender, if wemby went back to his home planet for the rest of the season and couldn’t win DPOY Dyson still wouldn’t win

The hawks are actually defensively worse (by net rating) with Dyson on then off because he allows a lot of really easy cuts to the basket and frequently gets walked around for an easy layup.

RCA1202

9 | 20 hours ago

Who’s DPOY if no Wemby if not Dyson then?

EchoHevy5555

4 | 19 hours ago

Well if you ask Vegas Evan Mobley, Jaren Jackson, Dort and Shai, Bam, Rudy are all ahead of him in odds

RCA1202

4 | 18 hours ago

Shai and Bam? That’s a joke.

EchoHevy5555

3 | 18 hours ago

This is just factual information Shai and bam are ahead of him in DPOY odds

Like this is information you can check I’m not just pulling names out of thin air

SoldatJ | OKC

-8 | 19 hours ago

JDub, Dort, Mobley, or JJJ. Suggs and Hartenstein would be there as well if not for injuries.

jimithelizardking | Nuggets

2 | 18 hours ago

Hart for DPOY? Cmon man that’s not even remotely close to happening

OSUBoglehead | Thunder

-15 | 20 hours ago

Lu Dort. Best defender on the number one rated defense, posting historic team defense numbers. Guards the opposing best player every game.

I’m not arguing Daniel’s and Wemby shouldn’t get it over Lu, but at some point team defensive stats should matter.

SoldatJ | OKC

13 | 19 hours ago

The biggest problem there is there are so many great defenders on the Thunder that votes get split on that front. Dort and JDub are both elite, Shai has an All-Defense argument going on, and people haven’t noticed Cason Wallace enough yet. That’s with our two centers both out with injuries. And did I mention Alex Caruso? Because he’s on the team too.

RCA1202

1 | 18 hours ago

Caruso isn’t hitting 65 games unfortunately

RCA1202

2 | 18 hours ago

Dort would be my 4th or 5th guy but not over Wemby or Dyson

OSUBoglehead | Thunder

4 | 17 hours ago

I was placing him below Wemby and Dyson. I thought the question was if not them.

RCA1202

1 | 14 hours ago

I’d also take Jaren Jackson over Dort, and MAYBE Mobley too

ShapeOfAUnicorn | Raptors

-1 | 18 hours ago

Dort is the only player in the league who gets away with just mauling the player he’s guarding. That shit is lame and shouldn’t get you DPOY, regardless of how effective it is because refs turn a blind eye.

jimithelizardking | Nuggets

3 | 20 hours ago

Trae Young DPOY

Both_Funny4896 | Jordan

2 | 20 hours ago

this is such an idiotic comment lmao

EchoHevy5555

0 | 19 hours ago

Which part

He isn’t a contender for DPOY, look at the odds currently he is tied for 8th with +7500 odds, the 76ers have better finals odds currently than that for perspective
Hawks are defensively worse by net rating, this is just factual it’s 116.06 (1274 minute sample( when he is on ans 111.02 when he is off (757 minute sample)

You can even filter it by different lineups if you are like “insert bad defender here is holding him back” or “well that’s cuz he is playing against starters” like Trae young with Dyson 116.6 Trae young without Dyson 112.6 hawks without either 109.2

Imo it is incredibly unlikely to have an elite defender and rhen perform 5 pts per 100 better when they aren’t on. Unless you have an even more elite defender or you do batch substitutions (which the hawks don’t do, they always have 2 starters playing) and you have a bench of defense, and only one good defender starting

the only part of the comment that can be considered idiotic in my opinion, when I said he gets walked around, and he does, yall may claim I’m crazy and seeing things but it happens quite frequently. I’m willing to admit it could be selection bias because I started watching him defensively after seeing all the hype, so I will have seen his lowlights more than players im not specifically watching, but I have seen Dyson get walked around to many times for it to be a coincidence in my mind

1manadeal2btw | Nuggets

2 | 17 hours ago

If he isn’t an elite defender and “gets walked around for easy layups”, then how come he’s averaging so many more steals than everyone else?

I know that you can gamble for steals and that it’s not a stat that is necessarily indicative of good defence. I do sorta agree overall with the argument you’re making, because it doesn’t make any sense that their defensive net rating is worse with him off the floor etc. But you make it sound like he’s not even putting in effort.

EchoHevy5555

2 | 15 hours ago

I didn’t say he wasn’t trying, I think the reason he gets walked around is cuz he is trying, arguably to much/in the wrong spot and it makes it so one good step at the right time and they are past him

But it’s similar to Steph curry or AI, nobody claims those guys are elite defenders but they were good at steals. They played for elite defenses tho so it made the gamble worth it, but for Dyson it just isn’t, if he misses his steal attempt he is out of position and people are driving into the empty space he left behind

SandyMandy17 | Thunder

-35 | 20 hours ago

The alien in San Antonio is gonna get is bc all people look at are blocks, but I think there’s more deserving candidates

ruggnuget | Nuggets

26 | 20 hours ago

Then you arent watching. I am not a young man, and I have never seen a single defensive player warp the court the way he does and it isnt close. Not prime KG, not Tim Duncan, not Gobert, not Howard, not anyone. It is so much more than just blocks. He is a genuinely all time unique player already.

Betaateb | Nuggets

5 | 18 hours ago

Ya, our games against the Spurs were crazy to watch, literally no one but Jokic was willing to even attempt a shot in the paint when Wemby was around. Except that one time Russ tried a layup with Wemby a few feet behind him, rushed it, and airballed it lmao. And we lead the league in points in the paint. Dudes were absolutely shook when Wemby was within 10 feet of them.

KOET10 | Spurs

3 | 18 hours ago

Obviously mega biased, but I remember the game against the hawks where Trae tried to floater but it went out of bounds over the backboard since Wemby was a menace that entire game in the paint

RCA1202

8 | 20 hours ago

Nah Wemby deserves DPOY this year but Dyson would have won it some of the last few years

BludFlairUpFam

1 | 19 hours ago

Dyson doesn’t win any of Gobert’s.

He could content for JJJ and Smart’s though

cookomputer | Spurs

7 | 18 hours ago

Smarts DPOY is gonna age so badly, kinda makes it harder for a guard to win after that one

RCA1202

1 | 18 hours ago

Would I be crazy to argue he could have won Giannis’s as well?

BludFlairUpFam

1 | 18 hours ago

Yes, AD would have been ahead of him that year as well

herking23 | Rockets

5 | 20 hours ago

He’s gonna get it cuz he’s not a liability in perimeter like some bigs who have dpoy(gobert) and is better than anyone in the league at rim protection.

Skeetdaddle

6 | 17 hours ago

I had to look that up, and Alvin Robertson did it five separate times, god damn.

whtge8 | Magic

184 | 21 hours ago

Impressive Jokic is up that high. Rarely see big men with that many steals. Dude just has good hands and always seems to know where the ball is. Also Dyson at 3 steals a game is nuts too.

Gerasans

72 | 20 hours ago

He is just too lazy to jump for a block, so all his defensive actions are steals)

Hopsalong | Nuggets

60 | 20 hours ago

Lots of his steals are credited as blocks because he’s a big man actually. His true steals number is much higher.

Gerasans

15 | 20 hours ago

That means that his block numbers are even lower? O_o

Hopsalong | Nuggets

5 | 20 hours ago

There’s no practical difference between a steal and a block, they’re both just turnovers. Jokic can’t meet players at the top of their shot, but he has great hands and always pokes at the ball before players go up. That’s his form of rim protection.

Tomato-Business

67 | 20 hours ago

Disagree with no difference between a steal and a block - a steal always results in change of possession, whereas you can have multiple consecutive blocks that don’t result in a change of possession. Blocks on the other hand contribute to overall rim deterrence, which steals do not do as much, so they’re somewhat different in how they affect the opposition and game as a whole

The_Black_Adder_

2 | 19 hours ago

I’m not super knowledgeable about NBA stats. If player 1 knocks the ball away from an opponent and player 2 (same team) picks it up and controls it, who gets the steal?

Relatedly what if the opposition recovers the ball? That’s just a deflection then, not a steal?

BakerStSavvy | Spurs

7 | 18 hours ago

Player 1 gets the steal in the first situation. If the other team gets it back its just a deflection and not a steal

Tomato-Business

1 | 18 hours ago

https://videorulebook.nba.com/archive/steal-credited-to-defender-who-deflects-the-ball-away-from-opponent/

For the second question, yes, that would be just a deflection, as there was no change of posession.

Andreitaker

1 | 13 hours ago

This is why big men always win DPOY, deterring people from shooting inside is such a huge thing.

manicfixiedreamgirl

14 | 20 hours ago

A steal is a turnover, a block is not

mnight84

0 | 18 hours ago

And what is the point you are making! Jokic isn’t a shot blocker and water is wet. This isn’t a new revelation.

sorendiz | HOU

4 | 11 hours ago

Not just cause he’s a big man, this is something that happens quite often with players who get a lot of strips

Fred VanVleet averaged nearly a block a game last season because of this sort of gray area lmao

Temporary-Level-5410

-33 | 20 hours ago

He has high steals cause he constantly gambles for them, giving up his position to go for steals. Steals definitely don’t equal good defense

ruggnuget | Nuggets

28 | 20 hours ago

Its true steals dont equate to good defense. Jokic does not put himself out of position for steals. He does give up the opportunity to contest shots for them near the rim (going for the ball low and not putting his hands up, could be argued he is avoiding fouls, but I also think he gets lazy on those contests). He also gets a lot of his deflections and steals within his PnR defense where he just puts his hands in the passing lanes. He does not gamble on those. Teams put him in the PnR a lot so he gets a lot of opportunities for them.

His defense has strong strengths and weak weaknesses, but gambling isnt one of them.

spizcraft | Nuggets

24 | 20 hours ago

This is one of the most boldfaced lies I’ve ever seen on this sub.

Andiff22 | Knicks

17 | 20 hours ago

It’s more that Jokic usually hedges on the pick and roll instead of playing drop and then steals or kicks the pocket pass. He gambles sometimes but scheme is probably the bigger factor here.

tankycarry

10 | 20 hours ago

Sounds like you never saw him play. Embarrassing take.

mickelboy182 | Nuggets

6 | 19 hours ago

He has high steals cause he constantly gambles for them, giving up his position to go for steals

This is so obviously and demonstrably untrue, you’ve literally just decided on a narrative with zero substance lol

Andreitaker

0 | 13 hours ago

I’m pretty sure you can’t gamble on defence if you’re as unathletic with Jokic.

Temporary-Level-5410

-18 | 19 hours ago

Lol at all the replies saying jokic is a good defender. Some people you really just can’t reason with at all

siegeoftyre | Nuggets

14 | 19 hours ago

The replies aren’t saying that? They are just contesting your claim that Jokic gets his steals by gambling.

RCA1202

97 | 21 hours ago

Caruso is up there too but he’s not eligible

iluvugoldenblue | Kings

20 | 21 hours ago

I wonder where keon is as well

RCA1202

19 | 21 hours ago

Keon is averaging 1.4 steals, a bit off the list

Brooklynfool | Thunder

16 | 20 hours ago

He’d definitely be higher if he was getting minutes to start the season

iluvugoldenblue | Kings

11 | 21 hours ago

Thanks! I know his deflections have been insane this year, I think he had 15 in a game a couple weeks ago

here_for_the_lols | Thunder

6 | 19 hours ago

Due to games played? Will he crack the list eventually?

RCA1202

9 | 18 hours ago

Yes he’s averaging 1.8 steals but he hasn’t played enough games to be on the list

OSUBoglehead | Thunder

2 | 20 hours ago

He’s great, but having watched all the Thunder games this season Lu Dort is better.

Icy_Error4362

53 | 20 hours ago

It’s interesting how the Thunder and Nuggets achieve these results with very different defensive philosophies. The Thunder’s steals are a product of aggressive on-ball pressure and a young, athletic roster that thrives in passing lanes. Players like Shai and Jalen Williams are great at reading plays and taking calculated risks without completely compromising the defense.

On the other hand, the Nuggets seem to prioritize opportunistic steals within a more disciplined scheme. Jokic’s anticipation is key here—he’s not gambling but rather leveraging his high basketball IQ to disrupt plays. KCP and Jamal Murray bring more traditional perimeter pressure, rounding out a balanced approach.

TexasRoadhead | Cote D'Ivoire

33 | 20 hours ago

KCP unfortunately was moved in the offseason but you’re right

Icy_Error4362

15 | 19 hours ago

Yea, I meant to write Peyton Watson smh

Midichlorian_counter | OKC

6 | 18 hours ago

I’ll push back on the idea that the thunder’s steal rate is so predicated on gambling and not scheme. The only player who really jumps passing lanes aggressively or does off coverage doubles is Caruso, and occasionally Shai.

I think a much larger contributor to these steal numbers is the aggressive pressure on ball, as you said, and how the Thunder collapse guards into nail and paint help. The Thunder are willing to pack the paint with their handsy perimeter players, then rush back out to contest the three point line. They give up the most corner 3s in the league, but this is baked into the defensive scheme they’ve used for years, not a result of gambling.

ForneauCosmique | Spurs

50 | 21 hours ago

3 steals per game is insane

OkRisky

38 | 20 hours ago

Why is fat Serbian in the top 5? I thought he sucked at defense.

No-Independence-761

21 | 18 hours ago

He’s not terrible at the level, he’s just horrible at the rim which is probably where most look to judge a centres defence.

Jamal Murray is a dog shit defender, so I wouldn’t be taking a metric like this too seriously to judge a players defence holistically

sixeyedbird | Lakers

3 | 9 hours ago

Last year KAT was a good defender but still a terrible rim protector next to Gobert. I’ve said this before but I think in an ideal world, KAT plays as a 4 on D next to a stretch ⁴⁄₅ rim protector. I think it would unlock him to a whole new level. (Unfortunately those are an extreme rarity). Unironically was maybe the best Jokic defender last year, but does have a problem with foul trouble.

p_pio

1 | 6 hours ago

Because he is being treated as rim protector, and he dosn’t protect rim.

I genuinely think that, especially when Gordon is injured, Jokić should be switched to powerforward and paired with more traditional big man. Jokić style of defense would become major boon, rim would be protected, and there would be player getting easy buckets in paint using that Jokić would pull the defense.

juandell | Nuggets

0 | 14 hours ago

I thought he sucked at defense.

I was told this too. Odd.

full-auto-rpg | Celtics

19 | 20 hours ago

1.) shoutout to Dyson, dudes a monster

2.) steals does not a good defender make

ButterscotchSafe8348 | Hawks

11 | 19 hours ago

It certainly helps

putdahaakin | Nuggets

1 | 18 hours ago

Doesn’t hurt!

sixeyedbird | Lakers

2 | 9 hours ago

I mean it does if you just gamble for steals all the time. DeJounte didn’t work next to Trae because that’s his thing. Worked next to White though.

RCA1202

5 | 20 hours ago

those OKC guys are all good defenders

BenBRob5

1 | 19 hours ago

As has already been said, a steal is a turnover, and turnovers are good (especially if you have a top notch fast break offensive, like the Nuggets do). In their case it’s probably a bit easier to see the direct benefits of steals, but you’re right that someone who gets a lot of steals might not be a good all around defender.

Hecka_Cakey | Hawks

17 | 20 hours ago

Dyson is truly built different

grundle_pie

9 | 19 hours ago

I’ll take 1 Dyson Daniels, please

Ikigai_Mendokusai | San Diego Clippers

5 | 19 hours ago

Now do per x minutes played. Welcome to the Dunngeon.

runevault | Nuggets

3 | 20 hours ago

And best of all this isn’t some silly “x team actually has 5 of them”, both teams having half of the six is really cool.

BarberSea4522

5 | 20 hours ago

Dam didnt know Dyson has that dog in him.

Fragility_Merchant

2 | 21 hours ago

We’ve got hands!

DrChiz | Kings

2 | 20 hours ago

I think Demar is pretty high in steals as well and Keon Ellis as well, I think he’s Top 5 in deflections after that 2OT Heat game. So here’s hoping Kings join the club and have 2 or 3 in the Top 15.

We actually do play defense despite people thinking this team is offense only cause they have watched us since the 22-23 season lol

Also Dyson Daniels gotta be the biggest STEAL of this last off season ;)

jbjyfy333 | Mavericks

2 | 19 hours ago

Is there a reason Luka isn’t on this list? I’m guessing he doesn’t qualify by games but I couldn’t tell from the site

RCA1202

7 | 18 hours ago

Not enough games yes, same reason Caruso isn’t on the list

jbjyfy333 | Mavericks

2 | 18 hours ago

Gotcha, thanks!

Riot1990 | Celtics

2 | 17 hours ago

Dyson daniels is an absolute menace. Dude really is such a good defender

aliefabroad | Rockets

2 | 17 hours ago

I remember how cranky people were about the Rockets nabbing FVV, but dude is a gift!

Scrimps | Raptors

2 | 16 hours ago

It’s almost like big men, defense and fundamentals are back while chucking three’s is a dying form of basketball…

Varolyn | 76ers

1 | 20 hours ago

Elite Defender Tyrese Maxey.

GreenEggs-12 | Rockets

1 | 19 hours ago

Jokic over Hart based on the eye test makes no sense in this lol, didn’t even notice

panofsteel

1 | 18 hours ago

hol up, jokic is 4th in steals?

Riles4prez | Suns

1 | 18 hours ago

Thieves!

AbbreviationsOwn4375

1 | 18 hours ago

Per 36 is a better stat. Because two of my teams players are on that one.

Live_Region_8232 | Trail Blazers

1 | 17 hours ago

crazy that daniel’s is averaging 3 swipes a game and is not going to even come close to the dpoy unless wemby misses serious time

HeyItsChase | Pacers

1 | 16 hours ago

TJ and Jarace top 7 in steals per minute. Dyson killing everyone there too

Effective_Teacher137

1 | 16 hours ago

Crazy stat

sorendiz | HOU

1 | 11 hours ago

Shout out to Tari Eason who would be on this list somewhere around 3-5 if not for the games played rate cutoff, at just about 2 steals a game. Though he’s playing again now, so he still has time to qualify for this list by the end of the season.

Drummallumin | BOS

-1 | 20 hours ago

This is a good example of how stats can sometimes be as much a result of gameplan as they are abilities

ButterscotchSafe8348 | Hawks

12 | 19 hours ago

No celtics on the list. Must be flawed

Drummallumin | BOS

-4 | 19 hours ago

Is that what you think I said? It makes sense there are no Celtics on there, they don’t play very aggressively on defense. It’s why they also don’t foul a lot.

Ok-Tree4365

-2 | 20 hours ago

Where are you getting the second decimal point. It’s not on BBall Reference. There are 8 players with 1.5 steals, so I’m not sure why you stopped at top 12.

Atlanta are second in team steals (10.3 SPG vs OKC 11.4), and yet their biggest thief (Jalen Johnson) is 19th on this list (1.4 SPG). The Clippers are second in team steals (9.7 SPG), and Kris Dunn is tied with KCP et. al with 1.5.

CornerIron | Bulls

12 | 19 hours ago

Atlanta’s biggest one is Dyson I thought?

6 of the top 12 players in steals per game this season play for just 2 teams: the Thunder and the Nuggets