On this day two years ago, LeBron James cemented another milestone.
On April 29, 2018, in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, James stole the ball from Indiana Pacers forward Bojan Bogdanovic near the end of the second quarter, making him the all-time steals leader in NBA Playoffs history with 396.
The play pushed LeBron James passed Scottie Pippen, then extended the record to 399 by the end of Cleveland’s 105-101 victory to secure the series, 4-3.
That moment was one of many magical ones for James in the game. He finished with 45 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and four steals in the crucial Game 7 triumph.
In the same showdown, LeBron James also surpassed Kobe Bryant for all-time NBA Playoffs games, moving up to sixth.
Now two years later, James is still atop the list with 419 steals in 239 games through 13 different playoff runs. Pippen remains second, with Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and John Stockton filling out of the top five, in that order. The next-highest active player is Chris Paul at 21 with 222 steals.
The Spin on 2017-18 LeBron James
The 2017-18 campaign was the 15th of his career. For the first and only time, James played in all 82 regular season games, accomplishing the feat at age 33. He averaged 27.5 points, 9.1 assists, 8.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals per outing, plus shot 60.3 percent from the field and 36.7 percent from beyond the arc.
In what turned out to be the final year of his second stint in Cleveland, James helped lead the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals for the fourth time in a row, this time as the No. 4 seed in the East. It was also the eighth-straight season LeBron James played in the Finals. The Cavs would fall to the Golden State Warriors, 4-0, in 2018’s ultimate series.
