Jan 16

Jan 16 The Greatest Rebounders of All-Time

The Greatest Rebounders to Ever Play in the NBA!

Shooters attract most of the attention in the NBA, but their job wouldn't be possible without big players who fight and wrestle under the rim, that is, in the "box".

The great Bill Russell at the 1960 NBA Finals

Rebounders’ ability to overcome defensive opposition and keep the possession alive on offense is key to their team’s success.

The man with the highest rebound average this season is Domantas Sabonis, right next to Rudy Gobert from Minnesota, with over 15 rebounds per game.

He and similar players are not noticed too much, and the focus is usually on the best scorers, such as Joel Embiid, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

In this article, we will focus on the greatest rebounders in the history of the NBA League, to give a bit of recognition to that important segment of the basketball game...

Honourable Mentions

There are a few amazing players that didn’t quite make it onto this list of the top 5 greatest rebounders of all-time.

Karl Malone is in sixth place on this list. He finished his career with 14,968 catches. The only thing he’s missing in his career is a championship ring.

Robert Parish takes a high seventh place. Parish is the record holder when it comes to the number of matches played in the league, reaching 1,661 matches.

As for rebounds, the legendary "The Chief" stopped at 14,715.

The eighth place on this list is taken by Kevin Garnett. Garnett spent most of his career in Minnesota but later moved to Boston, where he won the long-awaited title.

He is at 14,662, but he had a big effect on the NBA league with his play.

Nate Thurmond is in ninth place. It is interesting to note that he made more rebounds (14,464) than points (14,437) in his career.

The list of the top 10 NBA rebounders is closed by Walt Bellamy, who made 14,241 jumps in his career.

He was declared the best "rookie" in the 61/62 season when he had an average of 19 rebounds per match, which is the third-best average in history for a "rookie".

Now let’s discuss the top 5 best rebounders of all time, finishing with the greatest rebounder ever!

5. Moses Malone (1955 - 2015)

You don’t get a nickname like "Chairman of the Boards" without having a big share of your team's rebounds.

Moses Malone, at 208cm tall, lived up to his nickname by leading the league in rebounds six times in a seven-season period from 1979 to 1985.

His productivity took a big dip when he left for Milwaukee at age 36, but Malone still ranks fifth in career rebounding and second in offensive rebounding percentage.

Clubs in playing career:

Utah Stars (1974 - 1975)
Spirits of St. Louis (1975–1976)
Buffalo Braves (1976)
Houston Rockets (1976–1982)
Philadelphia 76ers (1982–1986)
Washington Bullets (1986–1988)
Atlanta Hawks (1988 – 1991)
Milwaukee Bucks (1991–1993)
Philadelphia 76ers (1993–1994)
San Antonio Spurs (1994–1995)

NBA career rebounds: 17,834 (12.2 per game)

4. Dennis Rodman (1961)

All the rebounders on this list are here because they outplayed and outsmarted their opponents. Dennis Rodman certainly falls into that category.

The five-time champion spent countless hours in practice studying the misses of his teammates so he would know exactly where to position himself when they missed a shot in a game.

He did the same thing during warm-ups before an NBA matchup, watching opposing teams to better understand the angles at which their misses would bounce.

That incredible attention to detail made Rodman a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and led him to seven rebounding titles from 1992 to 1998.

In recent years, Rodman has been devoting part of his free time to calming the tensions between the US and North Korea.

This must be one of the most unusual situations in the world of sports!

Clubs in playing career:

Detroit Pistons (1986 - 1993)
San Antonio Spurs (1993 - 1995)
Chicago Bulls (1995 - 1998)
LA Lakers (1999)
Dallas Mavericks (2000)
Long Beach Jam (2003-2004)
Fuerza Regia (2004)
Orange County Crush (2004-2005)
Torpan Pojat (2005)
Tijuana Dragons (2005-2006)
Brighton Bears (2006)

NBA career rebounds: 11,954 (13.1 per game)

3. Kareem-Abdul Jabbar (1947)

Most fans remember Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the harmless, clean-shaven giant who launched the popular sky-hook outside of the box.

Although he certainly spent his best career days doing so, the player known as "Cap" (short for Captain) was initially known as a huge centre who rebounded like "crazy".

Abdul-Jabbar, who is 218cm tall, averaged 15.6 rebounds in his first seven years in the league and finished his 20-year career with the third most rebounds in NBA history.

Clubs in playing career:

Milwaukee Bucks (1969-1975)
LA Lakers (1975-1989)

NBA career rebounds: 17,440 (11.2 per game)

2. Bill Russell (1934 - 2022)

The Boston Celtics have produced 35 Hall of Famers, but William Felton Russell towers over them all when it comes to rebounding.

The five-time MVP led the Celtics in rebounds every year between the ages of 22 and 34, leading the league five times during that span.

But that's not all! Russell also recorded a minimum of 38 rebounds in as many as 23 games and set an NBA record on February 5, 1960, when he made as many as 49 rebounds against the Syracuse Nationals.

We'd like to think the Nationals later moved to Philadelphia because of shame, although there were probably other mitigating factors.

Clubs in playing career: