Greatest shot blocker in each NBA team’s history

Best shot blocker in Los Angeles Lakers history: George Mikan

Due to the lack of elite centers on some of the other teams in the league, George Mikan gets the nod here for the Los Angeles Lakers, and while he wasn’t the best to ever play for the team — which speaks more about the terrific history of big men the Lakers have had — his greatness shouldn’t be undervalued.

The inaugural season of the NBA was in 1946, only two years before Mikan broke into the league out of DePaul University, so the talent pool of the league obviously wasn’t as deep as it is today, nor did it have many players who could match the size Mikan brought to the table.

Nevertheless, no player is gifted the choice to choose his era, leaving the man they called “Mr. Basketball” to lay waste to some of the earliest NBA players.

Because he stood so much taller than most everybody, Mikan’s play was comparable to that of a varsity high school basketball player matching up against the JV team. He averaged 23.1 points and 13.4 rebounds per game, doing whatever he wanted whenever he wanted.

Like his fellow NBA elders, Mikan’s block totals weren’t tracked, but it seems safe to say he probably tallied up a large sum going up against guys who likely weren’t very fast, tall or athletic in any shape or form.

It’s an interesting topic of discussion when talking about guys like Mikan and Bill Russell: Could they have played in today’s game? Sadly, we’ll never know, but as mentioned before, all one can do is take care of the business in front of them. Mikan clearly appeared to do just that.