DeWanna Bonner Moves Into Elite Company on Steals Leaderboard

DeWanna Bonner is now in the top 10 in steals in WNBA history. How high up the list can she climb?

Jun 27, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Phoenix Mercury guard DeWanna Bonner (24) tries to steal the ball from Minnesota Lynx guard Tricia Liston (20) in the second quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images / Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

Phoenix Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner came off the bench and picked up a whopping five steals in the team's narrow win over the Chicago Sky on Tuesday night, bringing her to 10th in WNBA history in steals, according to the team's Instagram account. WNBA Stats has her listed as ninth, ahead of Angel McCoughtry in 10th, and just behind Sancho Lyttle in eighth.

Either way, it's a huge milestone for one of the most versatile defenders in league history. Bonner has put her stamp on games for the Mercury this season as the team's sixth player, averaging 24.6 minutes a game off the bench since arriving from the Indiana Fever mid-season.

Of the players in the top 10 in steals, Bonner is just one of two, along with Tamika Catchings (who is the all-time steals leader by a country mile) with more than 300 career blocks, a category in which she also ranks in the top 25. Bonner has racked up 628 steals and 341 blocks in her career thus far and seems to still have plenty left in the tank. (On a side note, Catchings has an absurd 1,074 steals and 385 blocks. It's safe to say nobody's catching her steals record, even if the league adds games to the season schedule again).

Bonner's a rare defensive player, with the length to stop shot in the interior and the agility to stay in front of guards on the perimeter, plus 530 games of WNBA experience and all of the veteran savvy that comes with it. And it's not like she's getting all these steals by jumping way out of position and playing high-risk ball -- she's a heady veteran with championship experience who makes good reads and gets stops without lunging or over-pursuing.

Her scoring numbers may come and go -- that's just how it is for players coming off the bench -- but her effort and energy have been consistent. And even when her shot hasn't been falling, she's approached each game as if it's a must-win.

She could very well jump up to seventh on the all-time steals leaderboard by the end of the regular season. Jia Perkins is just seven steals ahead of her, with 635, and she has a real shot at cracking the top five if she chooses to lace up her sneakers for one more season after this one.

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