Stock Party: the stocks model
Stocks are steals plus blocks, the two ways a defender takes the ball or the shot away. Who does both at an elite level?
How the model works
Steals per 75 possessions and blocks per 75 possessions, so minutes and pace drop out and a 1976 season can sit next to a 2024 one.
Steal % and block % compared with the average qualified guard, wing or big that season. Three steals per 75 is rare for a center and common for a guard, so every player is measured against his own position.
Steal % plus block %, divided by the league’s turnover rate that season. Steals come from turnovers, and the league committed far more of them in the 1970s and 80s than today, so this keeps old seasons from being inflated.
All five pieces are ranked against every qualified season in the same position, across all eras, then combined with equal weight. A season counts if the player played at least half of the games and 20 minutes a game.
Steals and blocks have been official statistics since 1973-74. League turnover rates before 1977-78 are Basketball-Reference estimates, and 2025-26 uses the 2024-25 rate until the full season is published. Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Nate Thurmond played before any of this was counted, so they are honorary gold by hand.
Like the steals and blocks pages, this measures what shows up in the box score. A player who deters shots or passes without recording a stock gets no credit here. No ranking is claimed within each tier.
The tiers
Bronze is still excellent. Gold is all-time. Each player is listed once, at his highest tier. A * marks a player added by hand.
Guards
- Anfernee Hardaway
- Ben Simmons
- James Harden
- Jason Kidd
- Jeff Teague
- Jrue Holiday
- Lonzo Ball
- Maurice Cheeks
- Michael Carter-Williams
- Michael Ray Richardson
- Baron Davis
- Darwin Cook
- Dyson Daniels
- John Wall
- Mookie Blaylock
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- Victor Oladipo
- Alvin Robertson
- Clyde Drexler
- Doc Rivers
- Doug Christie
- Dwyane Wade
- Eddie Jones
- Kendall Gill
- Michael Jordan
- Ron Harper
Wings
- Amen Thompson
- Francisco García
- George Lynch
- Grant Hill
- Herbert Jones
- Jerome Kersey
- Reggie Williams
- Rudy Gay
- Tracy McGrady
- Chris Morris
- Kawhi Leonard
- LeBron James
- Lionel Simmons
- Metta World Peace
- OG Anunoby
- Paul Pierce
- Scottie Barnes
- Shane Battier
- Terry Tyler
- Andrei Kirilenko
- Gerald Wallace
- Josh Smith
- Julius Erving
- Robert Covington
- Scottie Pippen
- Shawn Marion
Bigs
- Andre Drummond
- Antonio McDyess
- Bo Outlaw
- Chris Webber
- DeMarcus Cousins
- Draymond Green
- Dwight Howard
- Gar Heard
- Kevin Garnett
- Oliver Miller
- Vlade Divac
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Nerlens Noel
- Patrick Ewing
- Paul Millsap
- Rasheed Wallace
- Shawn Kemp
- Anthony Davis
- Ben Wallace
- David Robinson
- Hakeem Olajuwon
- Marcus Camby
* Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Nate Thurmond played before steals and blocks became official statistics, so they are included by hand. Andrei Kirilenko is counted as a wing.
The stocks profiles, plotted
Further out is better on every axis. Choose any listed player and any of his qualified seasons, up to four at a time, so the seasons you compare do not have to be consecutive.
| Player | Season | Tm | Stl/75 | Blk/75 | Stl vs pos | Blk vs pos |
|---|
Only players on the tier lists above appear here, and only their qualified seasons.