Getting so tired of the phrase "wing span". What do they DO with that wing span!?
Look up all of the best defensive players from the past 10 years or so.
I would say that you'll find around 70% - 75% of those guys have impressive wingspan.
Three examples are guys we've had ourselves - Rajon Rondo (6'1", 6'9" wingspan), Avery Bradley (6'2", 6'7" wingspan) and Marcus Smart (6'4", 6.9" wingspan).
If you look at shorter centers from the past who became elite shot blockers (e.g. Alonzo Mouring) often those guys had an insane wingspan. Mourning for example was 6'10" only, but he had a wingspan of around 7'6". Same with Dwight Howard.
Combine long wingspan with an impressive vertical leap and a high motor, and the result is often a high caliber defensive player.
A guy like this, despite being only 6'2", would be able to contest jumpers at an impressive rate because of his length, quickness and leaping ability - these allow him to theoretical cover a lot of three dimensional ground very quickly.
Wingspan essentially allows a player to 'play' bigger than their height.
