Eddie Jones headlines the single season steals per game leaders for the Charlotte Hornets.

Since their 1988 debut, the Charlotte Hornets have seen several standout defenders. Let’s look at the top five single-season leaders in steals per game.

Eddie Jones, 1998-1999, 3.0 spg

In his rookie season, Jones averaged 2.0 steals over 64 games with the Lakers. In his first four full seasons with the Lakers, he averaged at least 2.0 steals per game three times. He played the first 20 games of the 1998-99 season with the Lakers before being traded to the Hornets. Over 30 games with the Hornets, he averaged 3.0 steals to go along with 17.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game.

Eddie Jones, 1999-2000, 2.7 spg

Jones averaged 39 minutes across the 72 games that he played in 1999-00. He led the league by averaging 2.7 steals per game, in addition to averaging 20.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists. He made the All-Star team that season, finished All-Defensive Second Team and came in third for Defensive Player of the Year voting. After the season, Jones was traded to the Heat. Across 102 games with the Hornets franchise, Jones averaged 19.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.8 steals.

Gerald Wallace, 2005-06, 2.5 spg

Wallace spent the first three seasons of his career with the Kings. However, he didn’t average more than 12 minutes per game in any of those campaigns. Following the 2003-04 season, he was selected by the Charlotte Bobcats from the Kings in the expansion draft. His playing time increased dramatically with him averaging 31 minutes per game in 2004-05. That helped him average 1.7 steals per game. The following season, he averaged 35 minutes per game. The added playing time resulted in him averaging 2.5 steals per game, which was the highest mark in the NBA.

Brevin Knight, 2005-06, 2.3 spg

Knight played for the Cavaliers, Hawks, Grizzlies, Suns, Wizards and Bucks before signing with the Bobcats in 2004. He averaged 2.0 steals for them in 2004-05, then 2.3 steals per game in 2005-06. That would end up being the second-highest mark of his career. He would play a total of three seasons for the Bobcats, averaging 10.8 points, 8.3 assists and 2.0 steals over 180 games. Knight finished his career playing one season each for the Clippers and Jazz.

Gerald Wallace, 2007-08, 2.1 spg

The Bobcats leaned heavily on Wallace during the 2007-08 season, leaving him to average 38 minutes per game. In addition to his average of 2.1 steals, he produced 19.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Wallace eventually played a total of 454 regular season games with the Charlotte franchise and he made his lone career All-Star team with them in 2009-10. During his entire tenure with the team, he averaged 16.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.8 steals.