This past Sunday, with his two blocks against San Pablo Burgos in the Liga Endesa, Edy Tavares became the player with the most blocked shots in the history of Spain’s top-flight competition. The Cape Verdean giant moved past Fran Vázquez, whose 738 blocks had kept him at the top of the all-time rankings, with his 739th rejection.
Beyond the sense of omnipresence and dominance he brings to the court, Tavares’ career is already historic in statistical terms. The African big man needed just 408 games to reach the top of the Liga Endesa’s all-time shot-blocking charts, while Vázquez, an elite rim protector in his own right, recorded his 738 blocks over 531 appearances. What’s more, Tavares has registered at least one block in 78.7% of his Liga Endesa games, an extraordinary level of consistency in that department. Since joining Real Madrid in November 2017, he has accounted for 42.5% of the team’s blocks in the Spanish competition. During that same span, Tavares alone has prevented more shots from going in than twelve entire teams in the league.
Y con este tapón… ¡Edy Tavares se convierte en el MÁXIMO TAPONADOR de la historia de la #LigaEndesa!
¡7⃣3⃣9⃣ TAPONES! 👑📺 @DAZN_ES https://t.co/2JCFLrBGJH
— Liga Endesa (@ACBCOM) November 1, 2026
And his dominance is by no means confined to Spanish basketball. Tavares’ impact on the European stage is equally unmatched. He has held the EuroLeague’s all-time shot-blocking record for years, with 556 blocks to his name, comfortably ahead of other elite big men such as Bryant Dunston and Kyle Hines.
Of course, the Cape Verdean’s impact goes far beyond protecting the rim. Tavares also tops the EuroLeague’s all-time rankings in both total rebounds and offensive rebounds. In fact, he recently moved into first place in the latter category, reaching 825 offensive boards during Real Madrid’s road game against Baskonia and surpassing Kyle Hines’ previous mark of 824. Once again, Tavares needed significantly fewer games to reach that milestone: just 323 appearances, all in a Real Madrid uniform, compared with Hines’ 425 games across spells with Brose Basket, Olympiacos, CSKA Moscow and Olimpia Milano. Tavares was already the competition’s all-time leading rebounder overall, with 2,185 boards.
Even in Pedro Martínez’s new-look Real Madrid, built around a frenetic offensive pace and early-clock attacks, Edy Tavares remains a reliable competitive anchor in the paint. His wingspan, rim protection, coordination and command of space shape virtually every opponent’s offensive approach, while his offensive rebounding creates multiple second-chance opportunities for his team in virtually every game.
At a time when European basketball increasingly demands more versatile centers, Tavares continues to showcase the value of a true big man who can dominate the paint. And the numbers are making his place in basketball history increasingly difficult to overlook.