Dyson Daniels has 36 steals in 12 games, 11 more than anyone, and is back at 3.0 a game: only Alvin Robertson and Don Buse have averaged three twice

Dyson Daniels has 36 steals in the Hawks’ first 12 games, exactly 3.0 a game and 11 more than any other player. Matisse Thybulle of the Lakers is second with 25. Among players who have appeared in at least five games, Kris Dunn of the Clippers is next at 2.3 a game.

Only one player has averaged three steals over a full season since 1990-91, and it was Daniels, at 3.01 in 2024-25. He fell to 1.96 last season, when Ausar Thompson won the steals title at 2.00. If Daniels holds this pace, he would join Alvin Robertson and Don Buse as the only players with two seasons of three steals a game.

The Great Barrier Thief racked up 7 STEALS tonight 😤

11 PTS | 9 REB | 4 AST | 7 STL

Dyson Daniels and the @ATLHawks improve to 2-0! pic.twitter.com/Rp16BQi0rU

— NBA (@NBA) October 24, 2026

The numbers that stand out

• Daniels has 36 steals in 364 minutes, or 3.6 per 36 minutes. He has three games with at least five: five against Orlando, seven in Charlotte and six against Brooklyn
• His 36 steals are 29.8% of Atlanta’s 121. The Hawks average 10.1 steals a game, fourth in the league, and are 7-5
• He is also grabbing 3.5 offensive rebounds a game, the most of any guard and tied for sixth among players with at least six games. Houston’s Amen Thompson is the next guard, at 3.1
• His 42 offensive rebounds are already a third of his 2024-25 total of 124, and he had 184 in 76 games last season
• Daniels has 36 steals and 15 turnovers. He is averaging 9.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists, and has made 2 of 16 threes

Every three-steal season

Steals became an official statistic in 1973-74. These are the qualified seasons on Basketball-Reference’s single-season list at 3.0 a game or more, with Daniels’ current season included for comparison.

Player	Season	Steals a game
Don Buse	1975-76	4.12
Alvin Robertson	1985-86	3.67
Don Buse	1976-77	3.47
Magic Johnson	1980-81	3.43
Michael Ray Richardson	1979-80	3.23
Alvin Robertson	1986-87	3.21
John Stockton	1988-89	3.21
Slick Watts	1975-76	3.18
Michael Jordan	1987-88	3.16
Alvin Robertson	1990-91	3.04
Alvin Robertson	1988-89	3.03
Dyson Daniels	2024-25	3.01
Dyson Daniels	2026-27	3.00 (so far)

Robertson has four of the 12 completed seasons and Buse has two. No one else has more than one. Between Robertson’s 3.04 in 1990-91 and Daniels’ 3.01, the closest anyone came was Stockton’s 2.98 the very next season.

Three starts compared

Daniels’ first 12 games this season sit between his two previous starts on steals, while his work on the offensive glass is new.

Season	Steals, first 12 games	Offensive rebounds, first 12	Points, first 12	Final steals a game
2024-25	44	17	180	3.01
2025-26	28	17	109	1.96
2026-27	36	42	118	3.00 (so far)

The 2024-25 start was even busier. He had 44 steals through 12 games that season, including 25 in a four-game stretch in November, and still finished at 3.01, the highest mark in 34 years. Last season the steals dropped off from the start, with 28 in his first 12 games and only three games of five or more all regular season, after 14 the season before.

This season he has three games with five or more steals in 12 games. The other difference is on the glass. Daniels had 17 offensive rebounds in his first 12 games in each of the past two seasons. He has 42 this time, including seven against Washington on Nov. 4 and six in Indianapolis two nights earlier.

What to watch

The Hawks have three days off before visiting the Bulls on Friday, then play in Milwaukee on Sunday. Leaders in every category are on the WhyNBA stats pages.