Elmore Smith was a 7 footer who started his career with the Buffalo Braves, but was traded to the Lakers in the 1974 season as a replacement for the departing Wilt Chamberlain. 1974 was the first year the NBA started officially counting blocks, and Smith would go on to lead the League that year in both BPG (4.9) and total blocks (393).

Perhaps the most impressive accomplishment of Smith’s blocks that season was the fact that he had a total of six triple-doubles that year, all from blocks. (For reference, the most triple doubles with blocks any player has had in their entire career is 10, a distinction shared by Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon and Dikembe Mutombo.)

His most dominant stretch was a series of four games in late October, where he had three triple-dubs in just four games:

Just 11 days into the very first season when blocks started being recorded, Smith’s 17 blocks on October 28th set the record for the most blocks in a game, a record that still stands to this day!

More discussion can be found here: How big of a deal was Elmore Smith’s six triple-doubles from blocks in the 1974 season? And why wasn’t he an All Star?