Best Shot Blocker of All-Time?

[KnicksWolves]

My cousin recently asked me a relatively simple question...which I had no idea how to answer. He asked me simply who I thought the best shot blocker of all time was. It then occurred to me that while I have a lot of opinions pertaining to other aspects of basketball, "best shot blocker of all time" was simply something that never crossed my mind.

I'm certainly not old enough to comment on how good guys like Wilt and Bill Russell were at this area of the game, and there isn't enough footage available out there for me to justify forming any sort of opinion about their shot blocking prowess. Not to mention the lack of stats in this category because they didn't keep track of this in an official capacity back then.

What does ISH think about "Best Shot Blocker of All-Time"?

[JimmyMcAdocious]

Hakeem.

inb4 old timer fans say how Wilt and Russell blocked 15 shots a game.

[tikay0]

Hakeem.

inb4 old timer fans say how Wilt and Russell blocked 15 shots a game.

Blocks weren't even recorded back then, but they did.

You tryna tell me that they couldn't record 10-15 blocks a game with their inflated stats?

[Myth]

Does this really need asked? The answer is obviously Mike Miller.

[SilkkTheShocker]

LeBron or Dwight

[jzek]

[Marchesk]

Since they've been keeping track, it's this guy:



But Wilt and Russell's unofficial stats would be better, obviously.

[HomieWeMajor]

I thought it was common knowledge that Wilt paid his opponents to let him block their shots.
On topic Manute Bol

[pauk]

Manute Bol.

[fpliii]

From the numbers I've seen I feel comfortable enough in saying that:

Wilt (5500-6500, 6+ a game for his career)
Russell (4500-5500, 5+ a game for his career)
Kareem (needs [3830-3189]/321=~2.0 bpg in his first four seasons to jump Hakeem)
Hakeem (3830)

are the top four career shotblockers, in that order. Number five is either Mutombo or Thurmond (who'd need to have averaged [3289-553]/695=~3.94 bpg in his first ten seasons; very much possible but I don't want to go out either way...we're currently doing research on him so I might be able to give a more definitive answer in a week or two). Eaton, the Admiral, Artis Gilmore, Ewing finish out the top 10 (Duncan probably jumps Shaq next season).

Best!=most all-time though. I think BLK% among guys with a decent volume is a safer bet:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...ct_career.html

Among the top 10 leaders in NBA/ABA history (all >2500 career), here are their lifetime BLK%:

Hakeem 5.39
Mutombo 6.28
Kareem 3.80
Gilmore 3.68
Eaton 6.92
Robinson 5.69
Ewing 4.75
Shaq 4.60
Duncan 4.58
Rollins 6.24

3 have career BLK&% over 6.00. Kareem's would be higher with his first four seasons, but not enough to eclipse that margin. So among guys since they started recording, Deke is my pick (combination of volume and per-shot proficiency; I can't say very definitively now but I feel safe in saying Wilt, Russ, and possibly Nate would also be >6). All-time it's gotta be Russell, who blocked almost as many as Wilt and was skilled at deflecting them to his teammates.

[LAZERUSS]

From the numbers I've seen I feel comfortable enough in saying that:

Wilt (5500-6500, 6+ a game for his career)
Russell (4500-5500, 5+ a game for his career)
Kareem (needs [3830-3189]/321=~2.0 bpg in his first four seasons to jump Hakeem)
Hakeem (3830)

are the top four career shotblockers, in that order. Number five is either Mutombo or Thurmond (who'd need to have averaged [3289-553]/695=~3.94 bpg in his first ten seasons; very much possible but I don't want to go out either way...we're currently doing research on him so I might be able to give a more definitive answer in a week or two). Eaton, the Admiral, Artis Gilmore, Ewing finish out the top 10 (Duncan probably jumps Shaq next season).

Best!=most all-time though. I think BLK% among guys with a decent volume is a safer bet:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...ct_career.html

Among the top 10 leaders in NBA/ABA history (all >2500 career), here are their lifetime BLK%:

Hakeem 5.39
Mutombo 6.28
Kareem 3.80
Gilmore 3.68
Eaton 6.92
Robinson 5.69
Ewing 4.75
Shaq 4.60
Duncan 4.58
Rollins 6.24

3 have career BLK&% over 6.00. Kareem's would be higher with his first four seasons, but not enough to eclipse that margin. So among guys since they started recording, Deke is my pick (combination of volume and per-shot proficiency; I can't say very definitively now but I feel safe in saying Wilt, Russ, and possibly Nate would also be >6). All-time it's gotta be Russell, who blocked almost as many as Wilt and was skilled at deflecting them to his teammates.

Excellent post. There are very few anywhere that have your statisical knowledge.

Having said that, though, I really think Wilt's and Russell's numbers are probably very low. Even in his very last season in 72-73, and at age 36, Chamberlain was blocking 5.4 shots per game. And from what I have read, and what I personally remember, he blocked considerably more than that in his 71-72 season. And Harvey Pollack is on record as claiming that Wilt probably had entire seasons of 10+. In fact, in the three known h2h's of the 71-72 WCF's, Wilt blocked 15 of KAJ's shots, and was credited with 33 total in the last four games of that series. And in the 71-72 Finals, he averaged 7.4 bpg.

I also found it interesting that in the 143 Russell-Wilt h2h's that you detailed, Russell was credited with 87 blocks in 12 games (7.3 bpg), while Chamberlain had 212 in 23 (9.2 bpg.) Granted, since those were somehow mentioned, and they were only a small amount of their 143 career h2h's, they were probably higher than their norms, but I also suspect that in many games, they were just not brought up.

Regarding Kareem and Nate, I also found it fascinating that a 36 year old Chamberlain, again in his last season, averaged 5.4 bpg, while, the very next season, and when the NBA began "officially" track blocked shots, KAJ averaged 3.5 bpg, and Thurmond was at 2.9 bpg. Kareem's high would be 4.1 bpg, which was at age 28 (in his 75-76 season.) I am absolutely convinced a 28 year old Wilt was easily blocking 8+ per game, and perhaps much higher.

[LosScandalous]

Wilt and it's not even close.

The NBA didn't even count blocks as a stat until 1 year after Wilt retired....

He'd of own that part of the record books in his prime.

I'd give Mutombo 2nd and Eaton 3rd.

[fpliii]

Excellent post. There are very few anywhere that have your statisical knowledge.

Having said that, though, I really think Wilt's and Russell's numbers are probably very low. Even in his very last season in 72-73, and at age 36, Chamberlain was blocking 5.4 shots per game. And from what I have read, and what I personally remember, he blocked considerably more than that in his 71-72 season. And Harvey Pollack is on record as claiming that Wilt probably had entire seasons of 10+.

I also found it interesting that in the 143 Russell-Wilt h2h's that you detailed, Russell was credited with 87 blocks in 12 games (7.3 bpg), while Chamberlain had 212 in 23 (9.2 bpg.) Granted, since those were somehow mentioned, and they were only a small amount of their 143 career h2h's, they were probably higher than their norms, but I also suspect that in many games, they were just not brought up.

Regarding Kareem and Nate, I also found it fascinating that a 36 year old Chamberlain, again in his last season, averaged 5.4 bpg, while, the very next season, and when the NBA began "officially" track blocked shots, KAJ averaged 3.5 bpg, and Thurmond was at 2.9 bpg. Kareem's high would be 4.1 bpg, which was at age 28 (in his 75-76 season.) I am absolutely convinced a 28 year old Wilt was easily blocking 8+ per game, and perhaps much higher.

You're almost certainly correct, I'm just being super conservative. If very low estimates suffice, no reason to use higher ones.

As I noted, we're going through a lot of Nate files (and obviously more Wilt numbers might come up for his pre-LA years; we have a lot on Russ including every mention from the Globe, so I don't think we'll get too many more on him), so in a few weeks I may have better numbers.

Kareem I'll worry about later on, since Milwaukee papers are available in the Google News archives which are free, so there's no hurry.

[Marchesk]

Regarding Kareem and Nate, I also found it fascinating that a 36 year old Chamberlain, again in his last season, averaged 5.4 bpg, while, the very next season, and when the NBA began "officially" track blocked shots, KAJ averaged 3.5 bpg, and Thurmond was at 2.9 bpg. Kareem's high would be 4.1 bpg, which was at age 28 (in his 75-76 season.) I am absolutely convinced a 28 year old Wilt was easily blocking 8+ per game, and perhaps much higher.

Did the rules change on shot blocking when it became an official stat? Some of the Wilt blocks looked like goal tending (ball on it's way down) to me. I'm wondering if they were more lenient on what constitutes a block in the 60s.

[bdreason]

Mutumbo and Hakeem.