'Defense wins championships' is a pretty popular belief that NBA teams abide by.
Until the game's recent evolution to pace-and-space and 3-point shooting, the game was heavily concentrated near the rim. So, defensive centers were an essential and critical part of nearly every team's roster.
However, an important factor must be noted. 'Blocks' were recognised for the first time only in the 1973-74 season, which eliminates all-time great centers like Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain from this category while also taking off a couple of years from the career of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Anyhow, since 1973, Tim Duncan leads the way with 568 playoff career blocked shots, nearly a century more than second-placed Abdul-Jabbar.
Here's a look at the top 10 players with the most career postseason blocks:
| Rank | Player | Playoff career blocks | Playoff games |
| 1 | Tim Duncan | 568 | 251 |
| 2 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 476 | 237 |
| 3 | Hakeem Olajuwon | 472 | 145 |
| 4 | Shaquille O'Neal | 459 | 216 |
| 5 | David Robinson | 312 | 123 |
| 6 | Robert Parish | 309 | 184 |
| 7 | Patrick Ewing | 303 | 139 |
| 8 | Kevin McHale | 281 | 169 |
| 9 | Serge Ibaka | 275 | 133 |
| 10 | Dikembe Mutombo | 251 | 101 |
Serge Ibaka, of the Toronto Raptors, is the only active player in the top 10.
Outside of that, there are three more active played ranked between 10-20 - Dwight Howard (234, 13th), Pau Gasol (233, 14th), and LeBron James (232, 15th). The Lakers duo of Howard and James could make serious ground on the list, with both possibly breaking into the top 10 of this category by the end of the 2020 playoff run.
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