With three blocks Saturday, Roy Hibbert is now a card-carrying member of the 900-block club. He joins 10 other active players to reach that mark by their age-28 season. Not bad for anyone, especially considering 16 teams passed him up in the 2008 draft.
Hibbert is off to another dominant defensive campaign. He has swatted more shots than any other player this season (35). However, this isn't a case of a player selfishly hunting for blocks. The patchwork Pacers are allowing just 99.0 points per 100 possessions with Hibbert anchoring the court this season, which gives them a top-10 defense overall. And that's without the help of Paul George, who garnered votes for Defensive Player of the Year last season.
As I pointed out Thursday, Hibbert's basket protection is otherworldly. Opponents are shooting just 38.4 percent inside five feet when Hibbert is nearby, which is the lowest rate for any defender in the league by a significant margin. He doesn't just block shots; he alters them.
There are a total of 330 players who have been blocked by Hibbert over his career. He has blocked everyone from Antonio McDyess (once) to Zaza Pachulia (eight times). He has blocked both big (Shaquille O'Neal) and small (Ty Lawson). But whom has Hibbert blocked the most over his career?
I could just provide the list from my Block Party database, but wouldn't it be way more fun to see if Hibbert himself knows? Let's do that. In light of the 900 club, I recently caught up with the big fella to see if he can guess his most-blocked list. (A chart detailing Hibbert's top 10 shot-block victims follows the dialogue.)
Tom Haberstroh: OK, so let's play a game.
Roy Hibbert: What you got?
TH: I have a list of all the players you've blocked in your career and how many times you blocked them. Your job is to guess who you've blocked the most. Hint: Think Central Division.
RH: Ohh. Maybe somebody on Chicago? I was thinking maybe Luol when he was over there.