Larry Steele was the first player to lead the league in steals with 2.7 a game. His nickname was “Man of Steal.”
The first player to lead the league in blocks was Elmore Smith. Not quite as cool of a name.
No relation to Lexington Steele, just to be clear.
Some mad lad probably had 100 steals in a game, but no one tracked that before the 70s. So he remains unknown
According to commentators at the time, Jerry West would have games with double digit steals.
The stat got added in his final year, and he averaged 2.6spg. Imagine him in his prime
The first player to lead the league in blocks was Elmore Smith.
He is also a professional BBQ sauce chef - https://elmoresmithbbqsauce.com/
This is now my favorite thing I learned in 2023.
The league was filled with plumbers and BBQ sauce chefs back in the day.
…Father of Backyard Sports legend Ernie Steele. A must have on any roster, right after Pablo Sanchez.
/r/NominativeDeterminism
“To be honest I never knew I had a last name, I just thought everyone was telling me what to do”
Fun fact, they named the category after him, before that they were called shithouses.
First man to called a flop foul is Brook F Lopez
Hence his nickname “Larry Legend”
Were Larry Steele’s steals totals audited by Ernst & Young?
Just sayin…
Yeah, uh, can we count these things?
P.S. Oh, the word KA-REEM sounds like somebody who is prolific at something… like blocking shots, or scoring…
P.P.S. Magic Johnson getting lots of triple doubles… that tracks too.
Life is like a box of dunk chocolates, you never what what dunk chocolate you’re gonna get.
Shoulda saved this for summer!
This what happens when NBA takes a day off
Unreal lol. Can’t write that shit.
Also, when the ABA started allowing dunks again in 1973 the league counted them separately on the box scores. League leader in 1973? Larry Dunque.