Zydrunas Ilgauskas currently tops the charts for Cleveland’s franchise record book in the all-time blocks category.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been running the hardwood for five-plus decades, a span in which a host of prominent players have donned their uniform.
Here’s a closer look at the Cavaliers’ top five career block leaders, a list that includes one of the elite players in league history:
Lithuania-born Zydrunas Ilgauskas, standing tall at 7-foot-3, was the Cavaliers’ most dominant rim protector. Ilgauskas made an instant defensive impact with 1.6 blocks per game as a rookie, and he went on to average between 1.3 and a career-high 2.5 in his next 10 Cavs campaigns before finishing just under 1.0 block per contest (0.8) in his final season.
The late John “Hot Rod” Williams wasted no time establishing himself as a defensive force for the Cavaliers following a one-year sojourn in the United States Basketball League. The big man racked up 2.1 blocks per contest during an impressive 1986-1987 rookie campaign, and he recorded at least 2.0 rejections per game in two other seasons as well. He also averaged between 1.4 and 1.9 blocks per contest in all of his other seasons in Cleveland, affording him the team’s blocks record for well over a decade before Ilgauskas eventually vaulted him.
Larry Nance’s defensive prowess, particularly his shot-blocking ability, earned him three NBA All-Defensive Team honors during his time with the Cavaliers. Nance had already averaged over 2.0 blocks per game in four seasons with the Phoenix Suns when he arrived in Cleveland, and he posted 2.3 per contest in his first half-season with the Cavs. Nance would go on to record the two highest block averages of his career – 2.8 in the 1988-89 season and a career-high 3.0 in 1991-92 – and never averaged less than 1.7 in any of his six-plus seasons in Cleveland.
LeBron James’ extraordinary career, which started with his hometown Cavaliers, continues to defy expectations as he remains one of the NBA’s most dominant forces. LeBron’s ability to essentially excel in every area makes him a perennial presence in the record books of each franchise he’s played for, and his defensive skills enabled him to average at least 1.0 block per game in each of the final three seasons of his first Cavs stint. Upon his four-season return to Cleveland beginning with the 2014-15 campaign, James never reached that figure again, but he did add another 213 blocks to his total in that span.
Tristan Thompson is currently in his second tenure with the Cavaliers, adding to his long-standing NBA career in the 2024-25 season. During his first stint in Cleveland, Thompson averaged at least 1.0 blocks per game in two different campaigns, and he fell just short on two other occasions. Thompson’s current role is much smaller, but he’s been able to add 14 blocks to his total to date.
