This season in the NBA there have been a few surprise teams throughout the league that look like they could be playoff teams like the Phoenix Suns, Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder, but only one surprisingly good team has been able to reach elite status in the Atlanta Hawks who have gone from a good playoff bound team in the Eastern Conference to a possible title contender.

Over the past couple of seasons, the Hawks have been able to make the playoffs and actually give some of the best teams in the East a run for their money in the postseason, but always seem to fall just short of making a run at a title. After adding Jamal Crawford into the mix and seeing players like Josh Smith and Al Horford come into their own this season, Atlanta has a legitimate shot of going the distance this year.

When most people think of the Atlanta Hawks, Joe Johnson is the first player to come to mind as he is without a doubt the undisputed leader of the team, but on the defensive end of the floor forward Josh Smith is the man!

At just 24 years of age (and 59 days) and in perhaps his best season of his young NBA career, Josh Smith has reached a milestone by becoming the youngest player in NBA history to reach 1,000 blocks after blocking the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Nenad Krstic early in the first quarter in Tuesday night’s loss to the Thunder.

The previous youngest player to reach 1,000 blocked shots was the Los Angeles Clippers Benoit Benjamin who accomplished this defensive milestone at the age of 25 years and 59 days which is exactly one year older than Smith when he reached 1,000 blocks against the Thunder on Tuesday night.

Not only was Josh Smith’s defensive milestone impressive, but perhaps the most impressive thing about it is that he has reached this milestone quicker than any other player has been able to reach 900 blocks in their NBA career.