Utah Jazz: Can Rudy Gobert become all-time NBA blocks leader?
By Matt Giles
The Utah Jazz big could finish with more blocks than all but a few legends.
Earlier this week, ninth-year Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert moved past former Jazzman Greg Ostertag into the top 50 on the NBA’s all-time blocks list. Now, entering the squad’s New Year’s Eve home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year remains at No. 50 with 1,298 career regular-season blocks to his name.
Thus far this season, the 29-year-old Gobert has averaged 2.3 blocks per game, marking his eighth straight campaign at or above 2.0 per game. However, his current average is down a smidge from the career-high 2.7 he ended up averaging last season.
Still, should the 7-foot-1, 260-pound durable Frenchman continue at his current average throughout the remaining 48 games while avoiding injuries and whatnot, Gobert will be approaching the top 40 and former Jazzman Andrei Kirilenko (No. 40 with 1,461) by the end of the regular season.
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Again assuming continued durability without significant dips in blocking ability, Rudy Gobert could be on the verge of cracking the top 30 by the end of next season and the top 20 two seasons after that. Extrapolating out a few more years at a clip of just under 200 per season, he could enter the top 10 — Robert Parish sits No. 10 right now with 2,361 — by the time he’s 35 or so.
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And if Gobert is lucky enough to prosper as a defender well into his late 30s, one day he might even flirt with the career totals of Tim Duncan and now-late former Jazzman Mark Eaton, who finished at No. 5 and No. 4 with 3,020 and 3,064 blocks, respectively.
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Beyond that, though, Rudy Gobert would now need to start consistently averaging more than three blocks per game or perhaps find a fountain of youth and play well into his 40s. Otherwise, he’ll have no hope of reaching No. 3 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (3,189), No. 2 Dikembe Mutombo (3,289), or No. 1 Hakeem Olajuwon (3,830).