When it comes to discussing the all-time greatest NBA players, sometimes substance takes a backseat to style. Take the never-ending debate about the basketball GOAT, for instance. If LeBron James didn’t have the “King James” nickname or Michael Jordan wasn’t known as “Air Jordan” or “His Airness,” the argument may have been settled one way or another a long time ago.
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There are several NBA players who can lay claim to being the greatest shot-blocker of all time, but though Hakeem Olajuwon seems to get bonus points for being “The Dream” and Dikembe Mutombo is remembered for his iconic finger wag, neither was as good at swatting opponents’ shots as Mark Eaton.
Eaton is fourth on the NBA’s all-time block list, behind Olajuwon, Mutombo, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but the seven-foot-four Jazz legend’s 3.5 blocks per game still stands as the best mark of all time. Of players listed at 7’4″ or taller, only Shawn Bradley and Rik Smits played more seasons than Eaton’s 11 (they had 12 each), but since Eaton didn’t reach the NBA until he was 26, he’s the only one to play any significant time after the age of 32, and he went until he was 36!
Mark Eaton had the greatest shot-blocking season of all time
Eaton’s 1984-85 season still stands as the greatest shot-blocking season the league has ever seen. He played in all 82 games that year, which is unbelievable for a man of his size, and he blocked 456 shots or 5.6 per game.
Nobody has come close to matching Eaton’s record. Olajuwon’s best season for blocks was 1989-90, and though he also played in every game that year, his total of 376 falls well short of Eaton. Mutombo is even further back with 336 blocks in his top season.
Eaton was rewarded with the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award that season, the first of two he would go on to win in his career. Incredibly, he finished in the top five of the DPOY voting six times in seven years, and the top three five times in six years. He was also remarkably durable, never missing more than three games in a season until his final year in the league.
Nobody has more block titles than Mark Eaton, and only two players have matched him
From 1989 to 1996, Olajuwon and Mutombo won six of the seven block titles, with only David Robinson preventing them from pulling a clean sweep. Olajuwon won three out of four to begin that stretch, with Mutumbo taking three in a row to end it. Eaton has them both beat, with four block titles in five years from 1983-88.
Kareem and Marcus Camby also have four block titles each, but neither one comes close to Eaton’s level of dominance. Kareem’s best-ever shot-blocking season still left him 118 short of Eaton’s record, while Eaton’s fourth-best single-season total beats Camby’s personal record of 285. To put that into perspective, in Eaton’s best season, his average dictates that he would have had that many blocks by his 51st game.
If Mark Eaton didn’t start his career so late, he’d easily be the NBA blocks king
Both Olajuwon and Mutombo played 18 seasons in the NBA, which gives them a big edge on the all-time blocks leaderboard. Eaton played 11 due to taking an unusual route to the pros. Out of high school, he studied to be an auto mechanic, and he didn’t enroll in college until three years after he graduated. He started at a small juco school before transferring to UCLA, and he didn’t play his first NBA game until 1982, seven years after graduating high school.
Olajuwon finished his career with 766 more blocks than Eaton, but he played in 363 more games. Given Eaton’s 3.5 blocks per game average, he easily would have surpassed Olajuwon if he had started his career earlier. Mutombo played in 321 more games than Eaton but finished with only 215 more blocks. Eaton could have managed that with one hand tied behind his back.
Nobody in the top 10 of the all-time blocks leaderboard played fewer games than Eaton, yet he still managed to become one of only five men to block more than 3,000 shots in his career.
Eaton is the greatest shot-blocker in NBA history
Eaton is one of the best players in Jazz history. He played his entire career in Utah, and he single-handedly transformed the franchise with his defense. The Jazz led the NBA in defensive rating four times in the ’80s with Eaton as their anchor in the paint.
Olajuwon himself allegedly said that Eaton was the toughest defender he ever played against, and it’s hard to argue the point. Try this one on for size: Eaton holds the record for most consecutive games with three or more blocks, as he once blocked at least three shots 39 games in a row. That’s almost half a season. The next-closest player is Shaquille O’Neal, whose best streak was only 23 games.
Victor Wembanyama has exploded onto the scene, and many are wondering if he will end up as the NBA blocks king before it’s all said and done. The seven-foot-four Frenchman will need to remain healthy throughout his career to have a chance at the all-time blocks record, but even though he’s seemingly locked up this season’s Defensive Player of the Year already, his mark of 4.0 blocks per game still ranks below Eaton’s three best seasons.
Other players may be more famous, but Mark Eaton is the true blocks king.
