most career steals before the 1999-2000 season

Before 1999-00, John Stockton had the most steals, with 2,701 steals.

Interpreted as:

most career steals by a player before the 1999-2000 season

	NAME	STL	GP	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	TS%	OREB	DREB	TPG	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	BLK	TOV	PF	+/-
1	John Stockton J. Stockton	2,701	1,176	32.4	13.4	2.7	11.1	2.3	0.2	4.8	9.2	51.9	0.6	1.5	38.4	3.3	4.0	82.3	61.1	0.6	2.0	3.0	38,094	15,791	3,145	13,087	239	3,472	3,163	+1460
2	Maurice Cheeks M. Cheeks	2,310	1,101	31.6	11.1	2.8	6.7	2.1	0.3	4.5	8.5	52.3	0.1	0.2	25.5	2.1	2.7	79.3	57.2	0.6	2.2	2.1	34,845	12,195	3,088	7,392	294	2,268	2,258
3	Michael Jordan M. Jordan	2,306	930	38.6	31.5	6.3	5.4	2.5	0.9	11.8	23.3	50.5	0.6	1.8	33.2	7.3	8.7	83.8	58.0	1.7	4.6	2.8	35,887	29,277	5,836	5,012	828	2,589	2,493	+1416
4	Clyde Drexler C. Drexler	2,207	1,086	34.6	20.4	6.1	5.6	2.0	0.7	7.7	16.3	47.2	0.8	2.4	31.8	4.3	5.5	78.8	54.7	2.4	3.7	2.7	37,537	22,195	6,677	6,125	719	2,977	3,285	+434
5	Alvin Robertson A. Robertson	2,112	779	31.7	14.0	5.2	5.0	2.7	0.4	5.7	11.9	47.7	0.3	1.0	29.5	2.3	3.1	74.3	52.7	2.1	3.1	2.7	24,669	10,882	4,066	3,929	323	2,116	2,638
6	Hakeem Olajuwon H. Olajuwon	1,977	1,075	37.4	23.6	11.8	2.7	1.8	3.3	9.4	18.2	51.5	0.0	0.1	21.0	4.8	6.7	71.7	55.7	3.5	8.3	3.2	40,250	25,367	12,677	2,859	3,582	3,415	4,007	+513
7	Derek Harper D. Harper	1,957	1,199	31.5	13.3	2.4	5.5	1.6	0.3	5.2	11.2	46.3	0.9	2.5	35.4	2.1	2.9	74.5	53.7	0.6	1.8	1.9	37,786	16,006	2,884	6,577	304	2,334	2,755	-353
8	Scottie Pippen S. Pippen	1,869	883	36.1	17.8	6.8	5.4	2.1	0.9	7.0	14.6	48.0	0.8	2.5	32.9	2.9	4.2	69.5	54.0	2.0	4.8	2.9	31,868	15,713	5,981	4,737	802	2,531	2,614	+1193
9	Isiah Thomas I. Thomas	1,861	979	36.3	19.2	3.6	9.3	1.9	0.3	7.3	16.2	45.2	0.4	1.4	29.0	4.1	5.4	75.9	51.6	1.0	2.6	3.8	35,516	18,822	3,478	9,061	249	3,682	2,971
10	Mookie Blaylock M. Blaylock	1,742	712	36.0	14.4	4.3	6.9	2.4	0.4	5.6	13.6	41.3	1.5	4.6	33.7	1.6	2.2	74.1	49.4	1.2	3.1	2.5	25,616	10,261	3,065	4,907	254	1,759	1,411	+1220
11	Magic Johnson M. Johnson	1,724	906	36.7	19.5	7.2	11.2	1.9	0.4	6.9	13.2	52.0	0.4	1.2	30.3	5.5	6.5	84.8	61.0	1.8	5.5	3.9	33,245	17,707	6,559	10,141	374	3,506	2,050
12	Fat Lever F. Lever	1,666	752	31.7	13.9	6.0	6.2	2.2	0.3	5.6	12.6	44.7	0.2	0.7	31.0	2.4	3.1	77.1	49.6	1.9	4.1	2.0	23,814	10,433	4,523	4,696	209	1,471	1,803
13	Gus Williams G. Williams	1,638	825	31.1	17.1	2.7	5.6	2.0	0.4	7.0	15.2	46.1	0.2	0.9	23.8	2.9	3.8	75.6	50.5	1.0	1.7	2.5	25,645	14,093	2,222	4,597	291	1,646	1,637
14	Charles Barkley C. Barkley	1,634	1,053	36.8	22.3	11.7	3.9	1.6	0.8	7.9	14.6	54.1	0.5	1.9	26.7	6.0	8.1	73.6	61.3	4.0	7.7	3.2	38,710	23,468	12,337	4,152	884	3,332	3,239	+538
15	Gary Payton G. Payton	1,603	704	35.2	16.3	3.8	6.8	2.3	0.2	6.6	13.8	47.7	0.8	2.4	30.9	2.4	3.4	71.2	53.3	1.3	2.6	2.5	24,765	11,503	2,706	4,816	151	1,734	1,919	+1272
16	Ron Harper R. Harper	1,592	882	31.8	14.8	4.3	4.0	1.8	0.8	5.7	12.6	44.8	0.5	1.9	28.8	2.9	4.1	72.2	51.2	1.3	3.0	2.3	28,018	13,046	3,806	3,533	665	2,057	2,090	+790
17	Karl Malone K. Malone	1,575	1,110	37.5	26.1	10.7	3.3	1.4	0.8	9.6	18.3	52.6	0.1	0.2	26.8	6.8	9.3	73.0	58.3	2.7	8.0	3.1	41,661	28,946	11,839	3,700	902	3,473	3,584	+1707
18	Doc Rivers D. Rivers	1,563	864	27.3	10.9	3.0	5.7	1.8	0.4	3.8	8.6	44.4	0.4	1.3	32.8	2.8	3.6	78.4	53.4	0.7	2.3	1.9	23,568	9,377	2,625	4,889	351	1,651	2,660
19	Larry Bird L. Bird	1,556	897	38.4	24.3	10.0	6.3	1.7	0.8	9.6	19.3	49.6	0.7	1.9	37.6	4.4	5.0	88.6	56.4	2.0	8.0	3.1	34,443	21,791	8,974	5,695	755	2,816	2,279
20	Nate McMillan N. McMillan	1,544	796	25.7	5.9	4.0	6.1	1.9	0.4	2.3	5.2	44.3	0.4	1.1	34.3	1.0	1.5	65.0	50.8	1.2	2.9	1.9	20,462	4,733	3,222	4,893	356	1,486	2,408	+280
21	Hersey Hawkins H. Hawkins	1,515	863	34.5	16.0	3.8	3.1	1.8	0.3	5.4	11.7	46.3	1.3	3.4	39.5	3.8	4.4	86.9	58.6	0.9	2.9	2.0	29,731	13,807	3,299	2,654	278	1,709	1,852	+1130
22	Julius Erving J. Erving	1,508	836	34.3	22.0	6.7	3.9	1.8	1.5	8.7	17.1	50.7	0.1	0.3	26.1	4.6	5.9	77.7	55.8	2.5	4.2	3.1	28,677	18,364	5,601	3,224	1,293	2,323	2,286
23	Chris Mullin C. Mullin	1,486	919	34.0	19.1	4.3	3.7	1.6	0.6	7.2	14.1	51.2	0.8	2.1	38.4	3.9	4.5	86.5	59.5	1.1	3.2	2.5	31,207	17,554	3,917	3,394	530	2,268	1,962	+313
24	Dennis Johnson D. Johnson	1,477	1,100	32.7	14.1	3.9	5.0	1.3	0.6	5.3	11.9	44.5	0.1	0.5	17.2	3.4	4.3	79.7	51.1	1.3	2.5	2.4	35,954	15,535	4,249	5,499	675	2,448	3,087
25	Jeff Hornacek J. Hornacek	1,470	1,000	31.8	14.7	3.5	5.1	1.5	0.2	5.6	11.2	49.6	0.8	1.9	39.7	2.8	3.2	87.3	58.2	0.9	2.6	1.9	31,831	14,706	3,464	5,079	210	1,858	2,215	+1573