NBA
The lead in steals hid a major negative record
The all-time low in the NBA’s leading stealer average in the regular season also points to the change in defensive approach.
THE Ogugua Anunobi continued the consistent individual performance of the past three years with the Toronto Raptors. That year, the 25-year-old British forward (2.01) finished the season with the NBA’s best steals average of 1.91 per game, ahead of Jimmy Butler of the Heat and teammate Fred VanVleet.
The paradox of the news is that Anunoby’s tally is the lowest ever in League history. And if the decline over the last decade is obvious, the average for the top “thieves” had never fallen below 2.08! It’s the first time this has happened and it’s also a sign of the tendency to give more value to the attack, lessening the pressure on the ball, increasing the score and overall increasing the spectacle in each game. All this if the Alvin Robertson of Spurs had finished the 1985–86 season with 3.67 steals per game, their best performance since the record began in 1973–74.
Anunoby, of course, has every right to celebrate in a class dominated by the likes of Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, John Stockton, Allen Iverson and top six king Chris Paul.
Source: sport 24
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