Inside The Jazz

Walker Kessler Makes Jazz History With Insane Defensive Stat

The Utah Jazz big man is making an impact on defense.
Jared Koch|
Nov 26, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) defends San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) during the first half at the Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Creveling-Imagn Images
Nov 26, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) defends San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) during the first half at the Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Creveling-Imagn Images | Christopher Creveling-Imagn Images

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Utah Jazz

While this season hasn't been all too kind to the Utah Jazz, there's been a lot to like when taking a step back to look at the performance and the development of third-year center Walker Kessler.

After having a turbulent second season in Salt Lake City, the Jazz center has come into the fold this season to post a career-high average in points, rebounds, and blocks en route to being this team's defensive anchor that he was brought in to be three summers ago.

His true impact on the defensive end is especially felt in the latest stat presented by the Jazz on X. Kessler has now blocked a shot in 17 straight games to start the season, a streak that's only been topped once in Utah's franchise history by Andrei Kirilenko back in the 2006-07 season.

Kessler has also gotten multiple blocks in eight straight games, a streak that's the second-highest in the league this year.

In case you were wondering how high Kirilenko's streak spanned, that number went as high as 23, coming to an end just two days before Christmas Day of 2006. As for the current multiple-block streak, the only player exceeding the Jazz center was... you guessed it, Victor Wembanyama, as he secured an insane 16-game streak of multiple blocks earlier in the season.

He doesn't have much longer to go until he catches Kirilenko, but to get to Wembanyama's level, he'll have to double his current number of consecutive blocks.

Kessler has averaged 10.9 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks a game in 17 appearances-- now reaching historic heights with his beginning of the season. While the Jazz haven't been too strong on the defensive side as a unit this year, being the 29th-ranked team in the NBA for defensive rating, there's at least one piece of the puzzle Utah can rely on that side of the ball on a night-to-night basis.

Kessler will hope to continue his dominance on the defensive end after the Jazz's mini-hiatus when they face off against the Phoenix Suns on Friday at 7:30 PM MT.

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Jared Koch
JARED KOCH

Jared Koch is the deputy editor of Utah Jazz On SI. He's covered the NBA and NFL for the past two years, contributing to Denver Broncos On SI, Indianapolis Colts On SI, and Sacramento Kings On SI. He has covered multiple NBA and NFL events on site, and his works have also appeared on Bleacher Report, MSN, and Yahoo.

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