There has been a lot of talk about Jordan having inflated home stats from the 1987-88 season in the steals, and blocks category, so I wanted to watch the games for myself. It wasn't as easy as I thought to get full home games from that regular season, and
watching them to count steals, and blocks wasn't as easy task. So far I've got 8 of the that were at least close to full games. The broadcast of the game vs Houston starts a little late, but I found 5 steals, and 5 blocks from Jordan in that game. Here is a list of the games with links, and timestamps. Possible steals are mostly plays in which Jordan played a role in a steal, but I didn't give him credit for it. One of them is a play in which Jerome Kersey got the ball, and Jordan took it from him, but Kersey didn't establish possession of the ball. In parenthesis are the steals, and blocks Jordan got credit for in the box score.
12/12/87 vs Houston https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHOdUzx6Dt0 starts a few min in
5 steals 5 blocks 1 possible block (5 steals - 5 blocks)
steal 16:51
block 25:42
block 29:06
steal 30:20
possible block 1:02:42
block 1:04:36
steal 1:28:22
block 1:29:10
block 1:40:49
steal 2:08:12
steal 2:09:38
2/26/88 vs Portland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2xz5fk5Yj8
2 steals 3 blocks 1 possible steal (2 steals - 3 blocks)
block 17:25
possible steal 23:31
block 6:55
steal 1:07:20
block 1:15:49
steal 1:21:40
11/7/87 vs Philadelphia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-_cKG-xztk
5 steals 3 blocks 1 possible steal (6 steals-4 blocks)
steal 16:29
steal 17:22
steal 17:48
possible steal 31:37
deflection sets up turnover 32:34
steal 37:45
steal 38:40
block 44:12
block 50:06
block 1:23:16 block called by announcer, not shown on screen. Replay of the block shown at 1:23:41
12/17/87 vs Cleveland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o40ZiQ8Ab4&t=1s
2 steals 1 block 1 possible block (4 steals - 1 block)
block 34:20
35:50 Paxson's steal Jordan gets a hand on it
possible block, not likely 37:19
steal 45:11
steal 47:38
4/24/88 vs Boston https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hvbEAPmsZg
1 steal 1 block (1 steal-1 block)
block 13:03
steal 38:11
12/22/87 vs Dallas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAmDezAwitQ
2 steals 2 blocks 2 possible blocks (4 steals - 2 blocks)
possible block 13:23
possible block 15:40
block 20:20
steal 31:16
block 55:27
steal 1:01:23
3/10/88 vs Los Angeles https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=_2GMwfS8qC8
3 steals 1 possible block (3 steals - 1 block)
steal 8:08
steal 42:00
possible block 55:34
steal 1:10:00
3/18/88 vs Boston https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf8LprvGLjo
3 steals 2 possible steals 1 block (5 steals - 1 block )
steal 15:13
steal 16:31
block 23:09
possible steal 47:10
steal 1:03:40
possible steal 1:08:02
Jordan got credit for 25 steals, and 13 blocks not counting the Houston game, and in those I counted 19 steals, 11 blocks, with 3 possible steals, and 4 possible blocks
Counting the game against Houston he got credit for 30 steals, and 18 blocks. I gave him credit for 24 steals, 16 blocks, with 3 possible steals, 5 possible blocks, 1 slight deflection that caused a steal, and one steal that was clearly John Paxson's but Jordan did get a hand on it.
Steals Blocks
Box Score 30 18
Counted by me 24 16
Other Possible 3 5
Others Involved in 2 0
Max. Counted 29 21
Blocks are tough thing to catch sometimes when watching lower quality video, so Jordan is close enough in blocks, especially when you count those other plays in which I couldn't tell if he blocked a shot. He probably got proper credit for blocks. Steals is a subjective thing. When 1 player makes the deflection, and someone else gets the ball, who gets the steal? According to what I saw, and read if the deflection is a controlled deflection away from the opposing player, and/or to a teammate, then the player that makes the deflection should get credit for the steal. It's still confusing as to what exactly makes a controlled deflection. What if the deflection isn't controlled but teammates who gets the ball does little outside of just catching it? Add that to confusion over whether so swats are strips, or blocks, and it makes for a tough stat to keep track of. That was the case in the Mavericks game. I gave Jordan credit for 2 steals, and 2 blocks, with two possible blocks. If I were to assume those possible blocks were blocks, that makes for 2 steals, and 4 blocks, but the box score has Jordan with 4 steals, and 2 blocks. I think that a couple of those plays that I gave Jordan blocks on were counted as steals. I gave Jordan credit for 80% of the steals he got credit for, with 5 additional plays, but I don't expect to catch everything. If anything, Jordan could've been given so bias when it came to steals in played a role in, whether he, or a teammate, made the deflection. I don't believe that Jordan was routinely given credit for steals on turnovers such as shot clock violations of the balls out of bounds off of a defender. 8 out 41 games is a small sample size. I consider this study unfinished.
For further confusion
Steal, credited to defender who deflects the ball away from opponent | NBA Video Rulebook
