Despite the never-ending list of gaudy statistics he's compiled during his surefire Hall of Fame career, Knicks guard Jason Kidd is routinely credited for his on-court smarts before his God-given talent.

"His mind is brilliant," teammate Tyson Chandler said of Kidd recently. "Hopefully we can freeze it, or something like that. Leave it for the next generation."

There's statistical evidence that Jason Kidd, who had three steals in the Knicks' win over Boston on Saturday, has developed a mind that operates faster on defense than perhaps any player's in history. Reuters

Even without being able to see its inner-workings, there's statistical evidence that Kidd's mind—which helps him compensate for his 40-year-old body—operates faster on defense than perhaps any player's in history.

That brilliance was clear during a crucial stretch of the Knicks' playoff victory over Boston on Saturday, when Kidd logged all three of his steals in game's final five minutes. Two came when he reached in and stripped the ball at the opportune moment.

On some level, neither of those last two key strips was that surprising. After all, the 19-year veteran has the second-most steals in NBA history. But the tactic provided a glimpse into precisely how Kidd—who quietly finished fifth in the NBA this season with a career-high tying 3.3% steal rate—has relied more on his defensive smarts in recent years.

A review of Kidd's 125 steals unveiled that 65 of them, or 51.2%, occurred when he pick-pocketed an unsuspecting opponent—slightly up from last year, when 50% of his steals came off such plays. Both marks are far higher than that of 27-year-old Chris Paul, who has led the league in steals the past three seasons, but gotten just 38% of them via strip.

Kidd's strip rates the past two seasons are a steep increase from five seasons ago, when he was 35 and more like other point guards who frequently jump passing lanes for steals. In 2007-08, just 39.7% of his thefts came from poking the ball away from an opposing player.

This isn't to suggest that Kidd's steal ability makes the nine-time all-defensive teamer an elite stopper in today's NBA. Synergy Sports, which tracks a player's efficiency based on every possession he's involved in, ranks him in the 17th percentile defensively, both overall and as a one-on-one defender.

And the Knicks struggled mightily in January, when Raymond Felton's injury forced Kidd to defend opposing point guards. Over those 13 games, the Knicks surrendered an average of 19 points, seven assists, 50% shooting overall and 38% shooting from three-point range to point guards per 36 minutes—the sorts of numbers that only reigning MVP LeBron James attains on a nightly basis.

But two things set Kidd's defense apart: His ability to identify and exploit players' tendencies, and his own personal adjustments to make up for his diminished foot speed.

The former shines through in the playoffs, where games are less frequent and Kidd thrives on having more time to study film of which players don't safeguard the ball well enough. As such, his 4.4% steal rate last postseason during the playoffs—the NBA's best rate—was up from the 3.1% mark he posted during that regular season. (His postseason steal rate has outpaced his regular-season one in each of the past four years.)

The latter point highlights why Kidd's basketball mind is an anomaly. None of the other top six steal artists in history—John Stockton, Michael Jordan, Gary Payton, Maurice Cheeks and Scottie Pippen—enjoyed their best steal seasons after turning 29. So it'd be fair to suggest they had far more athleticism then than Kidd possesses now.

"90% of the league is quicker and faster," Boston coach Doc Rivers said of Kidd. "But he beats everyone with his brain. He beats them into the ground with his brain."

Write to Chris Herring at