Who has the most blocks in NBA history? We look at the Top 5 players!

#3 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with the LA Lakers.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a legendary basketball icon and the NBA's all-time leading scorer. With his six NBA championships, six NBA MVPs and 38,387 points scored, it is easy to remember his offensive skills and his unstoppable skyhook.

However, Abdul-Jabbar was a great shot-blocker from his early days in the NBA. Kareem is third on the NBA's all-time list of blocked shots, with 3,189 throughout his 20-year career.

Abdul-Jabbar's total is higher given the NBA started tracking blocks in his fifth year in the league.

Kareem averaged 2.6 blocks per game in his career (eighth in NBA history) and was selected to the All-Defensive team 11 times (third-most in league history). Moreover, Abdul-Jabbar led the league in blocks per game four times throughout his career, tied with Mark Eaton and Marcus Camby for the record.

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#2 Dikembe Mutombo

Dikembe's signature finger wag: Getty Images.

Dikembe Mutombo's finger wag after blocking shots became one of the most recognizable traits in his playing career, and we saw it often. Mutombo, a four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year award winner (record), blocked 3,289 shots in his 18 years in the NBA.

Mutombo was an eight-time All-Star in his career, receiving six All-Defensive and three All-NBA selections and led the league in blocks per game three times.

His average of 4.49 blocks per game in the 1995-96 season was the most recent time a player averaged at least four blocks per game in a single season.

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#1 Hakeem Olajuwon

Olajuwon fighting Patrick Ewing for a rebound.

Hakeem Olajuwon's offensive skills at the low post are well known by diehard NBA fans and they're definitely one of the greatest sets of footwork you can watch on a tape.

But what was arguably Hakeem's best asset was his incredible defensive skills, whether it was rim-protection or even going out to the perimeter and staying in front of a guard. Olajuwon is the all-time leader in blocks in NBA history with 3,830 in his 18-year career.

The two-time NBA champion and two-time Finals MVP retired as the second all-time leader in blocks in the NBA Playoffs, but Tim Duncan surpassed him and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the top step.

Olajuwon is one of five players to win the MVP award and Defensive Player of the Year in his career, alongside Michael Jordan, David Robinson, Kevin Garnett and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Hakeem won the Defensive Player of the Year award twice in his career and was also a two-time Finals MVP with the Houston Rockets (1994 and 1995).

In terms of blocks per game, Olajuwon averaged 3.1 in his NBA career (third-most in NBA history).

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