A steal is a defensive play in which a defender legally takes the ball from the offence, by intercepting a pass or stripping the dribble, causing a turnover.
The steal is the turnover a defender creates personally. Intercept a pass, poke a dribble loose and secure it, or strip the ball as a driver rises, and the box score credits a steal to the defender and a turnover to the offence, along with the live ball chaos that usually follows: steals start more fast breaks than any other play in the sport.
Like blocks, steals became official statistics only in 1973 to 1974, so the career list is modern by construction. John Stockton leads it with 3,265, and Alvin Robertson's 1986 season, the only steals based quadruple-double at its centre, marks the category's ceiling. Great steal artists defend by prediction, reading passing lanes rather than guarding bodies, a style whose failures, the missed gamble, are as visible as its successes.
Coaches debate the steal's value the way fans debate everything: a steal is the best defensive outcome there is, possession plus transition, but gambling for steals breaks schemes. Quiz material treats the official record plainly, and tricky questions test the bookkeeping itself, the difference between a steal, a deflection, and a turnover the offence simply fumbled away unassisted.
In use"The steal at midcourt sent him in alone for the layup."