John Wall is lightning quick, knows how to run an offense, is an incredible passer, and he's not too shabby at shot blocking either.
The blocks stat is not reserved for bigs or defensive minded wings. Wall believes he's a great shot blocker. So great that he considers himself the greatest shot-blocking point guard in NBA history. Quite a statement to make, but he did just finish Friday night's game against the Pistons with two blocks, including the game-saving rejection.
John Wall: ‘I think I’m the best shotblocking point guard in NBA history.’
— Chase Hughes (@ChaseHughesNBCS) October 21, 2017
John Wall saves the day for the @WashWizards! #DCFamily pic.twitter.com/83MHNTHW8C
— NBA (@NBA) October 21, 2017
Wall's confidence is warranted, but greatest shot-blocking point guard ever? That's quite a title. He still has a long career ahead of him to earn it, but he'll need some more block-heavy seasons. However, maybe he is the NBA's best shot-blocking point guard ever. He has 324 career blocks, per Basketball Reference. On the all time list, the 250th ranked player (Darius Miles) has 495. Wall could realistically catch that in a few years.
Let's take up a step further though. If Wall truly wants to be the greatest shot-blocking guard ever then he'll need to pass someone even better, and that's Dwyane Wade. No guard in NBA history is a better shot blocker than Wade. At 802 blocks, he's ranked 133 and is only one career block behind Marcin Gortat. Wade once had 106 blocks in a season. He is truly the gold standard.
Wall's a great shot blocker for a point guard, potentially the best ever, but he needs to aim even higher than that. Go for Dwyane Wade. Aim to reach over 100 blocks in a season. Average 80 a season over a multiyear span. If he can do that, then he'll be in an exclusive class of guard that few can ever reach.