LeBron James passes Kobe Bryant on NBA's all-time steals list

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There are now only 14 players in NBA history who have more steals in their NBA career than LeBron James.

In Sunday's contest against the San Antonio Spurs, James passed Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant on the all-time steals leaderboard. James now has 1,945 steals (and counting) in his NBA career.

Next up on the list? Derek Harper, followed by Allen Iverson.

The only active player ahead of James is Oklahoma City Thunder guard Chris Paul, who has 2,131 steals in his NBA career. John Stockton leads all players all-time with 3,265 steals.

James entered Sunday's game averaging 1.4 steals per game. If he maintains that number for the entire season, he could move into the No. 13 spot by the season's end, behind Mookie Blaylock and Karl Malone.

NBA all-time steals leaders
Rank Player Steals
1. John Stockton 3265
2. Jason Kidd 2684
3. Michael Jordan 2514
4. Gary Payton 2445
5. Maurice Cheeks 2310
6. Scottie Pippen 2307
7. Clyde Drexler 2207
8. Hakeem Olajuwon 2162
9. Chris Paul 2131
10. Alvin Robertson 2112
11. Karl Malone 2085
12. Mookie Blaylock 2075
13. Allen Iverson 1983
14. Derek Harper 1957
15. LeBron James 1945
16. Kobe Bryant 1944

James is working his way up the scoring list as well. He's now just under 1,000 points from passing Bryant to become the NBA's third all-time leading scorer.

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Scott Rafferty is a Senior NBA Editor for The Sporting News