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Being a guard in the NBA and defending one, just like the other positions, is a battle between two world-class talents. One of them has the element of surprise because he has craftiness up his sleeve, will he attempt a floater? a finger roll? a scoop shot layup?
Knowing all the various kinds of shots in the opponent’s repertoire, a guard must be on his heels at all times and that requires great attention to detail along with a superior sense of shot blocking.
From the 38-year-old Jason Kidd shutting down the likes of Kevin Durant and LeBron to D-Wade almost surpassing Michael Jordan's 893 blocks which is the highest number of blocks for a guard, where do these players land in the shot blocking guards list?
Let us have a look at the 10 most prominent shot blocking guards in NBA History.
#10 Jason Kidd - 450 Blocks
Jason Kidd was a gem when it came to playing defense. His All-NBA Defensive team selections are 9 in total, of which 4 are first team and 5 are second-team selections. Even at age 38, Kidd knew how to stir up trouble for the young KD and prime LeBron James.
Kidd never was an elite shot blocker but always gave an adequate amount of importance to shot blocking, that's why when we look at his career we see low but consistent number blocks and that added up to an impressive total of 450 blocks when it was all said and done for the 6'4 PG and triple-double genius.
To this day, people still believe the then 38-year-old's defense on LeBron in the 2011 NBA Finals is one of the many factors that put the trophy up for grabs to the Dallas Mavericks.
#9 Eddie Jones - 580 Blocks
The 1x All NBA Third Team and 3x All-Defensive Second Team selections pretty much sums it up for Eddie Jones' career. He was arguably one of the best top 10 draft picks for the Los Angeles Lakers and a great defensive addition to their team alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe.
Steady Eddie always had a good reach on his opponents which helped him get a steady amount of blocks on a nightly basis as he averaged more than 1 BPG for multiple seasons.
E.J. finished his career with 580 blocks with a career average of 0.6 BPG. It is believed that if Eddie weren't transferred 5 times in his 14 years in the league, the story about his career might have been different.
#8 Kobe Bryant - 640 Blocks
Kobe Bryant's killer instinct isn't just attached to his offensive ability but his defensive ability as well. His incredible achievement of being 9x All NBA Defensive First Team (Tied for best ever in the NBA) and 3x All NBA Defensive Second Team pretty much tells the story about him being a two-way player.
Kobe finished his career with 640 total career blocks and has a career average of 0.5 blocks. Bryant did an unbelievable job in the 1998-99 season where he averaged 1 block for the whole season and pretty much repeated the same with an average of 0.9 and total of 62 blocks for the succeeding 1999-00 season.
The league might not have seen a more competitive basketball player than Kobe Bryant. Kobe always welcomed his disbelievers to prove them wrong and always loved a challenge. This not only reflected through his offensive ability but his defensive ability as well.
#7 George Gervin - 670 Blocks
George Gervin was the most unique player of his era. With his acrobatic layup ability and mastery of the finger roll made him unstoppable at anywhere 15 feet away from the basket. This pure scorer ability made him lead the NBA in scoring 4 times.
GG was just as good when it came to playing defense, his long wingspan and 6'7" height for the two guard position was making it too hard for the opposing guards to get a shot over him and that lead to Gervin getting clean blocks.
Gervin finished his career with 1047 blocks, out of which 670 were in the NBA and 377 were in his ABA days. For his NBA career, Iceman averaged 0.8 BPG. MVP or not, Gervin always put on a show on both ends of the floor.
#6 Dennis Johnson - 675 Blocks
The 3x NBA Champion Dennis Johnson was one the most prominent defenders the league had ever seen back in the day. D.J. was quick with his hands, be it for steals or for blocks and that combined with his offense made him the 1979 NBA Finals MVP as he led the Sonics to their one and only championship.
Dennis Johnson finished his career with a total of 675 blocks and a career average of 0.6 blocks. Dennis played in a league where blocks had just begun to be counted as a stat but Dennis knew their advantage as he racked 97 blocks and an average of 1.2 BPG for the 1978-79 season. “Dennis was a great player, one of the best teammates I ever had,” Larry Bird said.
#5 Clyde Drexler - 719 Blocks
Being a guard means having great ball handling and above average ability to shoot the ball, however, these were the only limitations Clyde had as a 6'7" shooting guard but what made him great was his shot blocking ability and his high steal numbers. Clyde averaged 2 steals and 0.7 blocks for his whole career.
The glide ability of Clyde (that rhymed) facilitated him in rising up and sending shots back, not to mention the 7-foot wingspan which helped a lot in getting steals and blocks. When it was all said and done Clyde finished his career with a whopping 719 blocks and averaged almost a block per game (0.9 BPG) for multiple seasons (1984-85, 1986-87, 1991-92).
The Hall-of-Fame battles with Jordan proved that the defensive ability of Clyde was no joke. Many to this day believe Clyde deserved to have a spot on All-NBA Defensive First Teams.
#4 Ron Harper - 729 Blocks
Ron Harper as a defender could only be described as intelligent and one with a knack for defending. Harp at 6'6" could defend 3 positions and accepted his position as a role player alongside Jordan and Pippen despite being a superstar almost all of his career.
Ron Harper helped a lot in the Bulls' defensive strategies as he could guard 3 positions which would enable Pippen to guard the opposing team's guards so as to disrupt their offense.
When it came to shot blocking, the Ohio Flyer certainly was no pushover. He had multiple seasons where he averaged more than 1 BPG and when it was all said and done Ron Harper finished his career with 729 blocks and a career average of 0.7 BPG.
Ron Harper was an elite shot blocker for almost his entire career and maybe could have even surpassed Jordan when it came to blocked shots if only he hadn't joined forces with him.
#3 Vince Carter - 836 Blocks
From Honey Dips to 360s there was not really any dunk that Vinsanity couldn't pull off and it was this elite athleticism that enabled Air Canada to rise up and send shots back. V.C. entered elite company when he crossed the 800 blocks mark for a guard with 816 blocks for his whole career sitting just behind Jordan and D-Wade.
People believed Vince was a liability on defense during that start of his career but that didn't stop him from being a head turner when it came to blocking shots as he racked up 92 blocks in 1999-00 which was his second season in the NBA while averaging 1.1 BPG for the same.
While the ability which really makes us look at Vince Carter's career is his dunking prowess, there is no denying that Vince was an elite shot blocking guard and 816 career blocks is certainly no ordinary feat.
#2 Dwyane Wade - 847 Blocks
Dwyane Wade has always been just as deadly at playing defense as he is being "the flash" on offense. Dwyane's quickness has always helped him recover on a pick and roll and swat the shot which looks like an easy two points.
You know you have a knack for something when you are so consistently good at doing that, and for Wade it has been shot blocking as well as other traits. Wade has had multiple seasons in which he has put up a season average of more than 1 BPG.
Wade has made it official that he is chasing the GOAT Michael Jordan when it comes to career blocks as he tweeted at beginning of the 2017-18 season "81 more blocks!". Well that gap has been slashed as Wade now has 847 blocks which is nearing Jordan's 893.
Wade's career is not quite over just yet so who knows? Maybe he will pass the GOAT or just add to the already splendid 847 career blocks.
#1 Michael Jordan
It seems hard to keep this man out of the discussion when it comes to being best at a particular aspect of basketball. Be it offense or defense, Mike placed equal priority over both as he believed that a person is only as strong as his or her weakest link.
One of the many aspects that His Airness excelled at was being able to fly, and that very ability gave him the upper hand when rising up against an opponent, like, literally the upper hand or how else would you block a shot?
Jordan went absolute beast for the 1986-87 and 1987-88 seasons when he posted 125 and 131 blocks respectively for the seasons while averaging 1.5 and 1.6 BPG for the same.
One of the main reasons why Jordan was so great at everything was because he never backed down from anything, ever. Jordan always tried to be consistent with his block shots which were impressive throughout his career and that is why he has the highest number of blocks as a guard at 893 and a career average of 0.8 BPG. This crazy high number is not going anywhere far from the number one spot, at least for now.
