I am writing this article to shed light on one of the tallest NBA players ever and his story. Many fans forget or don’t even know how dominant prime Mark Eaton was. He is regarded as an all-time great defender, and in my opinion, the best shot blocker ever! Please enjoy!
Background Info
On January 24th, 1957, 6’9” Bud and 6’0” Dolores Eaton gave birth to a son, naming him Mark. Mark was quite the normal boy growing up, other than his monumental height. He was interested in playing water polo, and served as the backup center for his senior year at Westminister High School, standing at 6’11”, though he weighed just 175 pounds and was considered ‘uncoordinated’ by his coaches.
He decided not to pursue professional sports, instead attending Arizona Automotive Institute and becoming an automotive service tech. When working on cars in Anaheim, Tom Lubin, the assistant coach of Cypress Junior College saw him and recruited him. He played 2 seasons with Cypress, winning the California JUCO title in 1980, averaging 14.3 points. He then decided to play at UCLA, though he received almost no playing time, going unnoticed by most NBA scouts.
The Birth of a Legend + Sustained Dominance
Despite this, he would go on to be selected 72nd overall in the 4th round of he 1982 NBA Draft(yes, there were that many rounds back then). He would wear jersey #53. This leads into my argument: Mark Eaton is the greatest shot blocker of all-time, and a top-5 defender of all time.
As a rookie, Eaton would average just around 19 minutes a game. But he also averaged 3.4 blocks… he bumped his average to 4.3 blocks the next season, as the Jazz proceeded to get even better.
1984-85: Mark Eaton ascends and has himself a top-3 defensive season ever(imo). Mark went on a tear, averaging nearly 5.6 block a game! This helped him total 456 blocks over the season, both of these stand as record to this day, and I strongly believe they’ll never be broken. In addition to this, he averaged a career-high 11.3 rebounds. He would go on to win his first DPOY.
Over the next several seasons, alongside the developing duo of Karl Malone and John Stockton, he’d continue to be the dominant defender on the interior, while also being a solid secondary rebounder to Karl Malone. Over the following two seasons, he’d average over 4 blocks each season, 4.6 and 4.1 respectively; chipping in 8.4 and 8.8 rebounds.
His sheer durability and production were elite the following couple seasons. Despite now being 7’4”, 275lbs, he played 82 games both of these seasons, averaging 3.7 and 3.8 blocks respectively; while playing an absurd 33.3 minutes and 35.5 minutes per game in this seasons. The 88-89 season would be a redemption season; as he’d also average 10.3 rebounds, make his first all-star game, and win his 2nd DPOY.
The following 3 seasons, he’d still maintain elite durability, playing in at least 80 games every season. Though his numbers declined, he was still a top-tier shot blocker, averaging around 2.5 blocks a game in this 3-year span.
Career End and Legacy
In the 1992-93 campaign, he’d play only 64 games, and just 17 minutes a night; though he still averaging over a block a game. His time missed was due to a degenerative back issue. He would go on to miss the 93-94 season and decided to retire at his contract’s end. Although the Jazz never reached the Finals with him, I strongly believe he was a crucial part of John Stockton and Karl Malone’s development, and they’d end up making back-to-back finals just a few seasons later.
The Jazz were dominant with Eaton, missing the playoffs just once in his tenure with the team. He finished with 2 DPOYs and multiple all-defensive selections. He would later get his jersey retired by the Utah Jazz and be inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame. He leads the NBA in all-time blocks per game, with 3.5, and no one has approached this number since, though many fans believe Wemby has a shot(I am not one of those fans). He maintains a 4th place spot in the all-time blocks leaderboard, being one of just 5 players to block more than 3,000 shots in a season. Out of these said 5, he played by far the least seasons, playing 7 seasons less than the next guy, though technically 5 seasons since Kareem played 4 seasons where blocks weren’t officially tracked. But still: that’s 5 whole seasons less than the next guy on that list, as he’s still very close to them, that is shear shot-blocking excellence.
Later in his life, he formed a close relationship with Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert, acting as a friend and mentor. He helped Rudy work on his defense and rebounding game, and inspired Rudy to try and win DPOY one day. He would go on to win 4 DPOYs and is now arguably regarded as a top-3 defender of his generation.
Sadly, Mark Eaton would not be able to see Rudy’s 3rd and 4th receptions of the award, as he would pass away from a bicycle accident in May 2021. He leaves behind an untouchable legacy, and will be remembered as a top defender ever and in my opinion, the best pure shot blocker to ever play the game.
This is my first NBA article! So please leave any feedback you have below! This is several grueling hours of work here, but I’d love to hear any and all feedback you may have. I’d also love you to comment your thoughts on my take!