Between the 1979-80 and 1988-89 seasons, Alvin Robertson got the most steals per game, with 2.9 per game.

Interpreted as:

total steals with a minimum of 41 games played per 82 team games leaders in the 1980s

	NAME	SPG	GP	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	TS%	OREB	DREB	TOV	PF	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	BPG	TPG
1	Alvin Robertson A. Robertson	2.9	389	12,525	6,285	2,087	2,094	1,128	204	2,570	5,327	48.2	61	228	26.8	1,084	1,438	75.4	52.7	808	1,279	1,148	1,336	32.2	16.2	5.4	5.4	0.5	3.0
2	Micheal Ray Richardson M. Ray Richardson	2.8	484	17,371	7,784	2,823	3,686	1,363	188	3,219	6,996	46.0	124	564	22.0	1,222	1,742	70.1	50.1	903	1,920	1,713	1,671	35.9	16.1	5.8	7.6	0.4	3.5
3	Michael Jordan M. Jordan	2.8	345	13,442	11,263	2,129	2,046	962	411	4,120	8,025	51.3	58	287	20.2	2,965	3,496	84.8	58.9	644	1,485	1,150	1,085	39.0	32.6	6.2	5.9	1.2	3.3
4	Ron Harper R. Harper	2.3	221	7,745	4,279	1,024	1,109	516	210	1,661	3,495	47.5	52	230	22.6	905	1,272	71.1	52.8	355	669	733	628	35.0	19.4	4.6	5.0	1.0	3.3
5	John Stockton J. Stockton	2.3	410	11,296	4,340	920	3,941	948	65	1,567	2,976	52.7	51	197	25.9	1,155	1,403	82.3	60.4	228	692	1,052	1,142	27.6	10.6	2.2	9.6	0.2	2.6
6	Fat Lever F. Lever	2.3	557	18,065	8,059	3,330	3,847	1,287	166	3,305	7,292	45.3	83	307	27.0	1,366	1,783	76.6	49.9	1,070	2,260	1,181	1,398	32.4	14.5	6.0	6.9	0.3	2.1
7	Clyde Drexler C. Drexler	2.3	478	15,777	9,484	2,798	2,677	1,101	320	3,752	7,621	49.2	70	304	23.0	1,910	2,449	78.0	54.5	1,277	1,521	1,367	1,544	33.0	19.8	5.9	5.6	0.7	2.9
8	Maurice Cheeks M. Cheeks	2.3	771	26,174	9,744	2,284	5,781	1,768	260	3,900	7,368	52.9	40	160	25.0	1,904	2,397	79.4	57.8	544	1,740	1,777	1,736	33.9	12.6	3.0	7.5	0.3	2.3
9	Mark Jackson M. Jackson	2.2	154	5,726	2,333	737	1,487	344	13	917	2,038	45.0	113	366	30.9	386	524	73.7	51.4	226	511	484	407	37.2	15.1	4.8	9.7	0.1	3.1
10	Johnny Moore J. Moore	2.1	467	12,914	4,772	1,496	3,784	985	113	1,951	4,217	46.3	86	340	25.3	784	1,096	71.5	50.8	375	1,121	1,124	1,270	27.7	10.2	3.2	8.1	0.2	2.4
11	Isiah Thomas I. Thomas	2.1	635	23,276	12,862	2,372	6,220	1,338	181	4,918	10,632	46.3	212	762	27.8	2,814	3,697	76.1	52.5	657	1,715	2,437	2,105	36.7	20.3	3.7	9.8	0.3	3.8
12	Doc Rivers D. Rivers	2.0	441	13,189	5,562	1,547	3,262	902	207	1,920	4,170	46.0	73	242	30.2	1,649	2,135	77.2	54.4	442	1,105	1,076	1,543	29.9	12.6	3.5	7.4	0.5	2.4
13	Magic Johnson M. Johnson	2.0	716	26,417	13,943	5,303	8,025	1,464	310	5,062	9,543	53.0	117	490	23.9	3,702	4,439	83.4	60.6	1,328	3,975	2,800	1,685	36.9	19.5	7.4	11.2	0.4	3.9
14	Gary Grant G. Grant	2.0	71	1,924	846	238	506	144	9	361	830	43.5	5	22	22.7	119	162	73.5	46.9	80	158	258	170	27.1	11.9	3.4	7.1	0.1	3.6
15	Gus Williams G. Williams	2.0	511	17,149	9,540	1,329	3,464	1,034	176	3,895	8,457	46.1	108	454	23.8	1,642	2,196	74.8	50.6	490	839	1,267	916	33.6	18.7	2.6	6.8	0.3	2.5
16	Winston Garland W. Garland	2.0	146	4,783	1,976	555	934	291	21	806	1,849	43.6	23	82	28.0	341	408	83.6	48.7	169	386	354	404	32.8	13.5	3.8	6.4	0.1	2.4
17	Nate McMillan N. McMillan	2.0	228	6,766	1,529	1,057	1,981	450	134	577	1,282	45.0	24	101	23.8	351	535	65.6	50.4	361	696	555	712	29.7	6.7	4.6	8.7	0.6	2.4
18	Ray Williams R. Williams	2.0	493	14,542	8,001	1,870	2,912	962	174	3,082	6,848	45.0	91	384	23.7	1,746	2,153	81.1	51.3	625	1,245	1,572	1,680	29.5	16.2	3.8	5.9	0.4	3.2
19	Hakeem Olajuwon H. Olajuwon	1.9	386	13,990	8,883	4,677	780	748	1,201	3,481	6,719	51.8	1	19	5.3	1,920	2,859	67.2	55.7	1,728	2,949	1,175	1,562	36.2	23.0	12.1	2.0	3.1	3.0
20	Derek Harper D. Harper	1.9	483	14,636	6,249	1,270	2,828	899	182	2,490	5,101	48.8	271	820	33.0	998	1,343	74.3	54.9	343	927	911	1,081	30.3	12.9	2.6	5.9	0.4	1.9
21	Willie Anderson W. Anderson	1.9	81	2,738	1,508	417	372	150	62	640	1,285	49.8	4	21	19.0	224	289	77.5	53.4	152	265	261	295	33.8	18.6	5.1	4.6	0.8	3.2
22	Larry Bird L. Bird	1.8	717	27,560	17,899	7,319	4,396	1,300	603	7,058	14,042	50.3	455	1,206	37.7	3,328	3,783	88.0	57.0	1,568	5,751	2,261	1,906	38.4	25.0	10.2	6.1	0.8	3.2
23	Julius Erving J. Erving	1.8	602	20,506	13,263	3,861	2,282	1,081	983	5,226	10,231	51.1	46	176	26.1	2,765	3,572	77.4	56.2	1,498	2,363	1,770	1,621	34.1	22.0	6.4	3.8	1.6	2.9
24	Michael Adams M. Adams	1.8	240	7,007	3,054	635	1,259	428	34	1,060	2,446	43.3	333	950	35.1	601	728	82.6	55.2	151	484	416	384	29.2	12.7	2.6	5.2	0.1	1.7
25	Kevin Edwards K. Edwards	1.8	79	2,349	1,094	262	349	139	27	470	1,105	42.5	10	37	27.0	144	193	74.6	46.0	85	177	246	154	29.7	13.8	3.3	4.4	0.3	3.1