Turnovers are an undesirable aspect of the game that shows up on players’ box scores at the end of games. The worst thing that can happen on the court is probably a turnover, which results in a lost possession without a shot being taken. Teams should at the very least try to keep the ball and set up a shot before the shot clock runs out rather than giving it to the opposition team. That is why plays that end without a shot taken are considered wasteful possessions and every coach frowns upon that.
- Point Guard – John Stockton
- Shooting Guard – Kobe Bryant
- Small Forward – LeBron James
- Power Forward – Karl Malone
- Center – Moses Malone
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At the same time, turnovers are a key component of the stat sheets at the conclusion of games, especially when you consider how superstars control the game in the modern NBA. There are currently a lot of possessions in a game, therefore players that handle the ball will commit more turnovers as time goes on. One factor stands out when examining the all-time leaders in turnovers: players who handle the ball frequently have the most turnovers in league history. Without further ado, here are the players with the loosest handles in NBA history in terms of total turnovers in the regular season for players in each of the five positions.
Point Guard – John Stockton
Leader: John Stockton – 4,244 Turnovers (1,504 Games Played)
2nd Place: Russell Westbrook – 4,201 Turnovers (1,026 Games Played)
The all-time leader in total assists, John Stockton, was the man responsible for giving the ball to Karl Malone possession after possession, year after year. Stockton was an incredible passer, and he never missed the playoffs as the point guard of the Utah Jazz alongside The Mailman. Stockton averaged a career 2.8 TOV, which is not bad for the all-time assist leader, but he did play 19 years.
That implied that a player with an extremely high usage rate would frequently lose the ball while controlling possessions. The outstanding point guard for the Utah Jazz has a career average of 10.5 APG and incredibly led the NBA 9 times in this category. Naturally, the pick-and-roll would fail if Stockton’s passes to Karl Malone did not succeed, which happened once in a while. However, Stockton generally made accurate passes, which is why he leads the NBA in total assists.
Russell Westbrook has to be the NBA’s most notorious turnover maker, although the likes of James Harden and Trae Young are making strong cases for themselves too. Due to his outstanding athleticism, Russ is a threat to reach the triple-double mark every single night. The point guard has the shooting ability to out-muscle smaller opponents and can grab any rebound that falls into the basket. In order to create for others, he or she might also attack the paint.
The 2017 MVP and two-time scoring champion has never had a season with fewer than 3.3 turnovers per game, with highs of 5.4 and 4.8 TOV. At the age of 33, Russ has over 4,000 turnovers in his career and averages 4.1 TOV. Westbrook is currently 2nd all-time in turnovers for point guards, and he will likely move up the list before this season is over.
Shooting Guard – Kobe Bryant
Leader: Kobe Bryant – 4,010 Turnovers (1,346 Games Played)
2nd Place: James Harden – 3,558 Turnovers (949 Games Played)
Very few players in NBA history had the usage rate of the late and great Kobe Bryant, a player who handled the ball more than almost any player ever. Bryant was a score-first and score-second player, meaning he was looking to make things happen on the court every possession. Naturally, a player with Kobe’s amount of usage rate would come up with at least 4,000 turnovers over his career. In fact, Bryant had a career average of 3.0 TOV.
Kobe reached his “turnover peak” in 2014, when he was 35 years old, and averaged a staggering 5.7 TOV. The 2014 season might be an outlier because the second-highest total was recorded by him in 2005 when he recorded 4.1 TOV. Kobe simply wanted to do everything on offense, and as a result, he frequently battled with persistent double and triple teams. Bryant was a talented passer, so his mistakes did not arise from his inability to pass the ball, per se.
Unsurprisingly, one of the NBA’s all-time ball-dominant stars is on this list. James Harden is an elite passer and scorer at his position, but he also commits a ton of turnovers. Despite being 32 years old, Harden now holds the 10th-highest career turnover total and is predicted to pass Kobe Bryant for first place by the end of his career. Will he actually get there? It could be very possible.
Harden has always been loose with the ball, however, this was primarily because of his desire to score or create points for his team. James has had at least 5.0 turnovers a game on average over the past three seasons, with a high of 5.7 TOV in the 2017 campaign. Additionally, The Beard has 5 more seasons with an average TOV of at least 4.0. As long as Harden continues to control the primary ball-handling role, he will continue to be a turnover machine whether fans like it or not.
Small Forward – LeBron James
Leader: LeBron James – 4,813 Turnovers (1,372 Games Played)
2nd Place: Paul Pierce – 3,532 turnovers (1,343 Games Played)
LeBron James has committed the most turnovers of any player with over 4,800 committed, and he’ll keep adding to that number as long as he plays. The King is the team’s top playmaker and scorer, hence he consistently produces more than 3.0 TOV for his career. Even though LeBron carried the burden of entire franchises on his shoulders (Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat come to mind), his worst ball-handling season came in 2018 when he averaged 4.2 TOV.
Considering all that The King does on the court for his team year after year, that is not too awful. Any top playmaker and scorer that plays nearly two decades with an average of 38.2 MPG will turn the ball over consistently. It is only natural, and there is a pretty wide gap between The King and second-placed Paul Pierce. Seeing how James has 4 NBA titles, turning the ball over did not hurt his legacy too much, now did it?
For most of his 19 seasons in the league, Paul Pierce served as the Boston Celtics’ top scoring option. When double-teamed, “The Truth” had to handle the ball, make plays for teammates, and take chances by attacking the defense in an effort to produce a good shot. Throughout his career, he posted a 2.6 TOV average, with a 3.8 TOV high in 2004. Particularly given that Pierce plays small forward rather than point guard, the figure is quite high.
Pierce was not a natural playmaker and often looked for his own shot rather than creating for his teammates, but he was forced to do so for years before the Boston Celtics’ “Big Three” was formed. As mentioned, Pierce was not a generational passer of the basketball but he could create chances for others, which is why coaches entrusted him with the ball on countless occasions, especially in the clutch. That meant turnovers were bound to happen.
Power Forward – Karl Malone
Leader: Karl Malone – 4,524 Turnovers (1,476 Games Played)
2nd Place: Tim Duncan – 3,381 Turnovers (1,392 Games Played)
Amazingly, despite receiving the ball from one of the greatest passers ever in John Stockton, Malone often lost the ball. Whether that was due to his “wild” hands or the aggressive defenses he dealt with, Malone had to make quick decisions by shooting the ball, drawing a foul, or passing the ball back out. Remember, Malone is 3rd all-time in total points scored. A player of Malone’s caliber as a scorer attracted a ton of attention, after all.
The Mailman had 10 seasons with at least a 3.0 TOV and over 4,500 turnovers in his career. Malone’s most turnover-heavy performance came in 1988 when he recorded 4.0 TOV while playing for the Utah Jazz. Malone also had a remarkable 19-year career in the NBA, so his tendency to turn the ball over frequently just increased the overall number of turnovers. Malone is one of the best scorers of all time, thus his mistakes shouldn’t diminish his ability as a top-15 player in history.
Tim Duncan is another all-time great big man appearing on this list, and he occupied the power forward spot for most of his career. The Big Fundamental averaged 2.4 TOV over his career and accumulated almost 3,400 turnovers over his career. Duncan was often the key star for the San Antonio Spurs, so everything normally went through the big man in the post. It often led to more positive than negative, obviously.
However, Duncan’s usage rate was quite high, and he was required to make quick decisions, just like other elite players on a team. With a 3.0 APG average and a career-high of 3.9 APG in 2003, he was a very reliable passer who could undoubtedly set up his teammates. Duncan was a good passer, but over the course of 19 years, his usage rate caused him to give the ball over more often than he would have wanted.
Center – Moses Malone
Leader: Moses Malone – 3,804 Turnovers (1,329 Games Played)
2nd Place: Hakeem Olajuwon – 3,667 Turnovers (1,238 Games Played)
Moses Malone was always known for being loose with the ball because his size and impact made him a target for double-teams down low. Moses averaged a career 3.1 TOV in the NBA, with his high coming in 1979 with the Houston Rockets, when he posted a very high 4.0 TOV. Not to mention, Moses had at least 3.0 TOV 11 times in his NBA career. That is quite a statistic to make an inference about.
Malone could pass the ball quite well, but he would need to turn it over more times than not. Of course, Moses was often fed the ball down low and was extremely active around the rim. When it came to receiving lobs, making passes, or dealing with swiping hands down low, Moses was often the victim of losing the ball for his team. No player is perfect, and Malone lost the ball on the other end of being an elite rebounder and scorer.
In second place is 2-time NBA champion, Hakeem Olajuwon. The all-time leading scorer in Houston Rockets history was a fantastic offensive player who dominated the game thanks to his undeniably great footwork and low-post skills. But “The Dream” was also the main man on the team in terms of making things happen for the Rockets, meaning he was often loose with the ball at times and committed unnecessary turnovers. When dealing with double and triple teams, that is expected.
Hakeem was forced to pass out of the post at times and was an excellent passer with an average of 2.5 APG as a center. His highs came in 1994 and 1996 when he posted 3.6 APG. However, Hakeem was also quite a turnover machine considering he averaged 3.0 TOV. A score-first player who faced constant double teams, Olajuwon was forced into turnovers more often than he liked. That still did not affect “The Dream’s” legacy as a top-12 player of all time.
