It might not have been the result Dyson Daniels wanted for his Atlanta Hawks Sunday, losing by 12 to the Chicago Bulls, but that didn’t stop the Aussie guard from pushing for some personal NBA history. 

After recording seven steals yesterday against Detroit – tying a career high –  Daniels backed it up a day later with six steals against the Bulls. 

This pushes his average steals per game to 3.3, as he looks to become just the second Australian to lead the league in the statistic. 

Dyson Daniels chases NBA history with dominant defensive effort

13 steals in two games for Dyson Daniels has seen his lead as the steals leader extend even further, now nearly an entire steal in front of the second-ranked player, Washington’s Jordan Poole with 2.4. 

Is Dyson Daniels the Victor Wembanyama of steals?

With 17 steals over his past 3 games, Daniels has brought his SPG up to a league leading 3.3 (the next highest is 2.4)

He also gets 7.3 deflections again

He’s a true disrupter and defensive playmaker pic.twitter.com/GvbXUowICm

— Point Made Basketball (@pointmadebball) November 10, 2024

At his current rate, Daniels could become just the second Australian to lead the NBA in steals per game, following in the footsteps of Ben Simmons in the 2019/20 season. 

This would also more likely than not result in an All-Defensive selection for Daniels, making him the fourth Australian to receive the honour, joining Simmons (2020, 2021), Matisse Thybulle (2021, 2022), and Andrew Bogut (2015). 

While there’s plenty more to come before the honours are handed out, Daniels is proving that he is a force to be reckoned with on both sides, and giving Australian basketball fans a lot to be excited about.