Brian Taylor sits at the top for the Kings as the leader in SPG.
The Sacramento Kings have had several players adept at racking up steals play for the franchise. Let’s sift through their record books and highlight their top-five leaders in steals per game for a single season.
Brian Taylor, 1977, 2.8 SPG
Taylor won the 1972-73 Rookie of the Year award while playing for the New York Nets. He also made two All-Star teams and was named All-Defensive First Team two times with the franchise. In 1974-75, he led the NBA by averaging 2.8 steals per game. After four seasons with the Nets, he played one season for the Kansas City Kings. He averaged 2.8 steals per game again, which was the second-highest mark in the league. That helped him be named All-Defense Second Team.
Metta World Peace, 2008, 2.3 SPG
The Kings acquired World Peace in a trade with the Pacers during the 2005-06 season. The 2007-08 season would end up being his final one with the franchise. Over 57 games, he averaged 2.3 steals to go along with 20.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Across 167 career regular season games with the Kings, he averaged 18.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.2 steals.
Doug Christie, 2001, 2.3 SPG
Christie played for the Lakers, Knicks and Raptors before joining the Kings prior to the 2000-01 season. He was busy during his first season with the team, averaging 36 minutes across 81 games. In addition to his 2.3 steals per game, Christie averaged 12.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He finished fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting and was named All-Defense Second Team.
Doug Christie, 2003, 2.2 SPG
Christie dominated on the defensive end again in 2002-03, contributing 2.2 steals per game. He also averaged 9.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and a career-high 4.7 assists. He finished fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting and was named All-Defensive First Team, which was the only time that he accomplished that feat during his career. Over 355 career regular season games with the Kings, Christie averaged 10.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.0 steals. In addition to his lone All-Defensive First Team selection, he was named All-Defensive Second Team three times.
Phil Ford, 1979, 2.2 SPG
The Kansas City Kings selected Ford with the second pick in the 1978 Draft. His rookie season was arguably the best campaign of his career. He made his presence felt on both ends of the floor, averaging 15.9 points, 8.6 assists and 2.2 steals per game. He was named the Rookie of the Year, made All-NBA Second Team and finished eighth in MVP voting. That would end up being the only season of his career in which he averaged at least 2.0 steals per game, although he did average at least 1.5 steals in each of the next two seasons. Across 299 regular season games with the Kings, Ford averaged 14.9 points, 7.8 assists and 1.6 steals.
