Edy Tavares becomes the all-time blocks leader in Spain's top basketball league
Real Madrid's Cape Verdean centre reached 739 blocks on Sunday 1 November in a 90-79 win over San Pablo Burgos, passing the 738 of Fran Vázquez, who had held the Liga Endesa record since 2013. He needed 408 games, fewer than any other all-time leader in a major league statistic, according to the ACB.
Thirty-six seconds into the second half, Balsa Koprivica went up for a hook shot and Edy Tavares sent it back. It was the Real Madrid centre’s 739th block in the Liga Endesa, Spain’s top basketball league, one more than Fran Vázquez, who had led the list since 2013. The game stopped and the crowd at the Movistar Arena rose to chant his name.
He had already equalled the record in the first quarter, blocking Sekou Doumbouya. Real Madrid beat Recoletas Salud San Pablo Burgos 90-79.
Tavares and his family at the tribute for his 739 blocks. Photo: acb Photo / Víctor Carretero.
A giant golden hand and the record ball
His wife and children came onto the court to hand him a plaque and a trophy shaped like a hand. Club captain Sergio Llull gave him the ball from the block, Libertad Digital reported.
408 games to the top
Tavares made his Liga Endesa debut in January 2013, aged 20, with Gran Canaria. It has taken him 408 games to reach the top, the lowest figure among the all-time leaders in the competition’s major statistics, according to the ACB. Vázquez needed 531 just to overtake Fernando Romay. Tavares has played for Real Madrid since 2017: 122 of his blocks came with Gran Canaria and 617 with Madrid.
He blocks a shot every 11 minutes and 47 seconds, the third-best rate in league history among players with at least 100 games. He has blocked shots against 25 of the 26 teams he has faced; only Palencia has escaped. In June, Real Madrid noted, he was named the league’s best defender for the sixth season in a row.
Nobody close behind
The nearest active player, Artem Pustovyi, has 353 blocks, less than half his total. Every block Tavares adds from now on extends a record that is already his.
