https://youtu.be/ALrsaMJpS7g
It’s rare that a player accumulates enough steals in a game to meet DTB’S OFFICIAL STEALS THRESHOLD. The threshold is a moving target that changes based on the player and my mood that day, and when a player meets it, it ensures that their steals are shown in the highlight video alongside their buckets. I’m not really in a “steals” mood today, nor am I ever really in a “steals” mood, but eight is so clearly above the OFFICIAL STEALS THRESHOLD that my anhedonic mind can’t help but get a little bit excited about Dejounte Murray and his ability to grab balls that aren’t his.
Eight is also the most steals that any player has gotten in a single game this season. In fact, you have to go back to the 2017-18 season to find a player who got more steals (it was Lou Williams with 10). So I’m not exaggerating at all when I say that this is most disrespectful display of ball-stealing prowess that you have seen in the last three years. It’s like the Warriors didn’t learn their lesson after the first two or three times where a lazy pass was thrown in Murray’s sphere of influence, or where somebody’s handles got a little bit lackadaisical while Murray was the on-ball defender. Honestly, it was reminiscent of the times where I play pickup against an athletic and motivated defender. The weak passes coming from my spindly toothpick arms just get picked off with no effort, and my baby giraffe handles don’t allow me to advance the ball under pressure. I have an excuse though. I’m not even supposed to be good at basketball and nobody pays me to excel at it. These Warriors players have no excuse.
The only sad part about this video is that a triple-double with steals was in reach. Murray had double-digit rebounds so he just needed to get two more steals. And six more assists for the quad-dub. I blame his teammates for this one.