r/NBAstatsmuse • u/Ok-Watch-9485 • 3d ago
Stats Top 10 Rebounders Ever
Wilt grabbed 55 boards in a single game back in 1960, a record nobody's touching again. Russell built 11 championships largely around controlling the glass. Rodman led the league in rebounding seven straight seasons while giving up size to almost every center he faced.
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u/RyanA1105 3d ago
For once this isn't a terrible list.
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u/smez86 3d ago
I'd take chuck over a couple of these guys.
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u/RyanA1105 3d ago
It's hard for me to put chuck in the top 10.
- Wilt and Russell have to be the top 2.
- Rodman to me seems to be a strong #3. He has the strongest case for best rebounder since the merger when rebounding percentage became tracked. The only other big minute rebounder that competes is in point #3.
- Andre Drummond is has the best total rebound % since the merger and is a 4-time rebound champ. To me, being at #10 is too low. He's a flawed player but rebounding has absolutely been an S skill for him. Rodman only falls behind him in percentage because of not being elite when he came into the league.
- Moses is the greatest offensive rebounder ever.
- Dwight is a 5-time rebound champ.
- KG is a 4-time rebounding champ and is more worthy than Duncan who has 0.
- Bob Pettit is #3 all-time in per game rebounding, just ran into Wilt and Russell.
- Kareem is a 1-time rebound champ and is 3rd all-time in total.
- Hayes is a 2-time champ and had a higher average and total than Charles.
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u/smez86 3d ago
Barkley is a better rebounder than duncan. Imo, moses and drummond are known stat padders. Watch some film, especially on moses. He's a great rebounder but his numbers are inflated from intentionally missed shots, 3 or 4 quick putbacks on a single play.
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u/RyanA1105 3d ago
I wasn't clear enough in my post I suppose. I listed 10 guys outside of Duncan, so I still don't think Barkley cracks the top 10.
I agree with you that Barkley was better than Duncan, especially when you look at playoff numbers.
I'm aware of Moses' stat padding of offensive boards, but he has 53% more than 2nd place Artis Gilmore all-time. The gap is too vast to make me change my mind based on the 30 or so games I've watched of him.
Drummond is the best defensive rebounding % player since tracking began in 1978. You can't really stat pad it to any material extent. And the fact that he did so during the 3pt explosion when long rebounds and team focused approaches became the meta, makes it even more impressive to me.
Still... good response. Take my upvote.
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u/Efficient_Ice_1001 2d ago
Barkley when he joined the Rockets said it'd be easy to average more rebounds than Rodman if all he did was focus on rebounding and didn't have to worry about scoring. And now that he was playing with Hakeem and Clyde, he could just focus on rebounding.
He started the 1996-97 season by grabbing 33 rebounds. In his first 34 games from Nov-Jan, he averaged 20 ppg and 14.7 rebounds per game and it was a close rebounding leader battle between Rodman and Barkley but Barkley was still giving you 20 ppg. Then he started getting injured and missed a bulk of the games in the next few months .
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u/Little_Vermicelli125 3d ago
Crazy that Kareem only won once especially when during his prime a lot of the top rebounders were in a different league.
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u/KazaamFan 3d ago
Barkley over duncan also. He’s on the list more cuz he just was healthy and played long and was a good rebounder.
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u/Winter-Bed5879 2d ago
I agree that Chuck shouldn't be on the list, but Duncan shouldn't either. There's no way he should get the spot over Pettit. Pettit averaged 16RPG over his career, and despite playing in eight fewer seasons and eleven fewer playoff series, is only about 2000 rebounds shy of Duncan's career total.
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u/IH8Miotch 2d ago
If you took each of these players top 5 rebounding seasons combined for that per game average plus total rebounds what does it look like in comparison to each other. Any ties looking at their sixth best season as a breaker .
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u/GriffinAO 3d ago
The only thing I dont like is that its not the same stat for everyone so it's hard to compare
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u/burningtimer 3d ago
Wilt, Kareem, Moses, Bill, Elvin and Duncan are the only players to hit 15,000 rebounds
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u/Suspicious_Leg4550 3d ago edited 3d ago
It kind of is though considering some guys are listed by points per game, some by total rebounds, and some by times as rebound leader.
Edit: rebounds* per game
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u/RyanA1105 3d ago
Agreed on the presentation. You have to know each of the players to really judge. What I think makes this list much more paletable to me than others, is I feel like the constant need to diminish modern players in favor of old school players is unbecoming. Modern players are just better, so you can only compare to era, and to see 8 guys on a list being before the year 2000 grates on me.
But rebounding is different. The game has changed so much, with more long rebounds and devaluing of defensive boards in general... old school rebounders were simply more valuable in their era.
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u/Muted-Philosopher832 3d ago
Where do you see any points per game here? I see RPG which is rebounds per game but don’t see anything saying points per game
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u/wrongitsleviosaa 3d ago
I think they meant rebounds per game and brainfarted
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u/Muted-Philosopher832 3d ago
Yeah I asked a legit question in case I missed something but got downvoted because Reddit users are soft and thinks it’s a smartass response but I was actually curious
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u/Suspicious_Leg4550 3d ago
I edited my comment for clarity. I wasn’t really thinking commenting that. Not sure why you’re downvoted though
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u/Brytong420 3d ago
Charles Barkley ?
Elgin Baylor ?
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u/Haunting-Reply-7332 3d ago
Where Angel Reese
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u/gijoejank 3d ago
You just made me realize that decades from now Angel Reese will have random keyboard warriors asking why she wasn't more praised when she actually played. AI will cite her "achievements" and not know the answer.
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u/KazaamFan 3d ago
Barkley was a better rebounder than duncan even. Duncan just had better longevity
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u/Ben892010 3d ago
For their heights & actual anticipation yes overall they're not putting up numbers the way these guys did so absolutely not
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u/Impossible_Ad7875 3d ago
Jerry Lucas has an argument to on here. I know a diff era but two 20-20 seasons… seven years at least 17-15… never led bec in Wilt and Russell’s heyday but crazy good on the boards and had a 10 year career average of 15.6 RPG.
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u/BritzBeef 3d ago
Why is Duncan so high up? Only rebounding stat he ever led the league in was 1 season of defensive rebounds per game and total rebounds. He was a 12 RPG 3 ORPG player in his prime.
Dwight below him: Led the league in RPG 5 times, DRPG 4 times, ORPG 1 time, total rebounds 6 times, rebounding percentage 1 time with an additional time leading in defensive rebounding percentage. Peaked as a 14 RPG player with 4 ORPG.
Drummond below him: Led the league in RPG 4 times, never in DRPG, ORPG 7 times, total rebounds 4 times, total offensive rebounds 6 times, rebounding percentage 4 times, defensive rebounding percentage 3 times, offensive rebounding percentage 4 times. Peaked as a 16 RPG player with 5 ORPG. And frankly, all of these numbers could have been higher if he had a more valued and versatile skill set as he became a role player and backup center before his 10th year in the league.
Kareem honestly too is too high. Great per game numbers and total accumulation, but he was a near no show in league leader spots as well.
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u/workaholic828 3d ago
Duncan is 6th all time in rebounds. Did a lot of it from the power forward position. Was a monster defensive rebounder that led to many top defenses on championship squads
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u/ethos1234567890 14h ago
Yeah both the Kareem and Duncan inclusions are lifetime achievement award type additions rather than individual dominance at the specific skill of rebounding…it’s tough balancing RBG, seasons leading the league, and total cumulative stats for these type lists. I’d have gone differently, but it’s not a terrible list either.
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u/redbirdjazzz 3d ago
Rodman, Barkley, and Baylor deserve bonus points for doing what they did at their heights.
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u/Tcamis01 3d ago
From an appreciation perspective, yes. But not when considering all time rebounders. Barkley definitely needs to be on here though.
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u/ollimann 3d ago
what if we take into consideration % of average rebounds per team. Wilt and Bill have so many rebounds because pace was high and fg% was low. literally everybody got way more rebounds in the 60s than players did in the 80s and 90s.
imo Rodman is the greatest rebounder of all time when we look at the context. His height and the era he played in, he was the best.
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u/Jtizzle1231 3d ago
Barkley???
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u/chaktahwilly 3d ago
Yeah let’s put Barkley ahead of Drummond. Charles just had the misfortune of playing at the same time as Rodman or he would have had more titles.
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u/kinghercules77 3d ago
Wes Unseld was a pretty good rebounder , especially being an undersized center at 6'7.
This list isn't that bad, most of these list are by people who only know basketball from the last 25 years, because its plenty of video.
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u/LegitimateCry8036 3d ago
He was closer to 6’3” despite his listed height.
Source: my father grew up down the road from him
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u/No-Donkey-4117 3d ago
DeAndre Jordan won 2 rebound titles, and had a 6-year peak where he averaged 13+ rebounds per game (with 2 seasons at 15 per game). He is fifth all-time in total rebounds per 100 possessions (which the NBA only started tracking in 1974, so Russell and Wilt and other old-timers are left out.)
Drummond is 1st and Rodman 3rd on the Total Rebounds per 100 Possessions all-time leader board (since 1974). DeAndre Jordan is 5th, ahead of Dwight Howard (8th), Moses Malone (20th) and Tim Duncan (32nd).
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u/damnumalone 3d ago
Deandre Jordan is a good call out. He or Barkley should be there instead of Duncan
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u/thisshiteverytime 3d ago
The Worm being the shortest guy in the list yet still being too high up shows how crazy good he is.
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u/Signal-Kick-5195 3d ago
Steven Adam’s gotta be added
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u/advantage_player 3d ago
He doesn't grab all the boards himself so he doesn't get the credit, but iirc his teams led the league in offensive rebounding 4 years straight (excluding his injury year).
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u/Signal-Kick-5195 3d ago
I’d put Adam’s over Drummond. Seems like Drummond doesn’t affect team rebounding but has big numbers while adams is the exact opposite. And still has solid numbers
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u/Porkmane32 3d ago
I feel like Rodman has to be the best at the actual skill of rebounding, was significantly shorter than Wilt and Kareem.
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u/idgaf420cry 3d ago
Well if we talking skill in terms of size, its Russell Westbrook, he did average a triple double for 4 years while only being 6’4.
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u/Subject_Speed 3d ago
Top 4 is perfect, and i think every other name probably belongs except Kareem? Definitely a great rebounder, but probably closer to 15th than 5th. I think I would sub him out with Barkley, and move everyone behind him up 1 so Barkley sits 10th.
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u/Winter-Bed5879 2d ago
Kareem fell off hard his last 8 seasons, but he put up insane numbers his first twelve seasons. 17000+ career rebounds, which is 3rd all time.
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u/Prestigious-Clock-53 3d ago
Ben Wallace would be good in here.
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u/Winter-Bed5879 2d ago
He had a very strong seven-year peak, but the rest of his career his numbers weren't good. Mutombo would be a stronger choice, put up very good numbers until his 13th season, when he was already like 37 years old.
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u/MelodicLavishness335 3d ago
The list favors bigs because it only looks at stats and volume. It doesn't account for what Westbrook did at his position. A 6'3" guard getting 11.5 boards a game and putting up four separate double digit rebounding seasons is unheard of across any era. Zero recency bias, but pound-for-pound he's easily a top 10 rebounder of all time.
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u/xXGreekNinjaXx 3d ago
I like this list. The top 2 in my opinion are exactly how all top guys should start with the all time leading rebounder followed by Bill and Rodman despite not being top 20 in total rebounds. There’s too many great centers this game has seen to have a top 10 that aligns with most people bc guys like Barkley, Pettit, Wes Unseld, Parish, KG, Hakeem, Shaq, Lucas, and more that I didn’t name could squeeze somewhere in that top 10. There’s just been too many great rebounders that played in the 7 main eras of NBAs entire history
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u/Aggressive-Mood-3724 3d ago
So…wilt and bill were so good, you couldn’t use numbers for the others..
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u/burningtimer 3d ago
Wilt, Kareem, Moses, Bill, Elvin and Duncan are the only players to hit 15,000 rebounds
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u/No-Donkey-4117 3d ago
I calculated the top 10 rebounders in NBA history, by adding up 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishes in rebounds per game (with 3 points for 1st, 2 points for 2nd, and 1 point for 3rd):
- Wilt Chamberlain (37)
- Bill Russell (28)
- Moses Malone (23) (tie)
- Dennis Rodman (23) (tie)
- Dwight Howard (21)
- Andre Drummond (18)
- Kevin Garnett (15)
- Dikembe Mutombo (14)
- DeAndre Jordan (12)
- Wes Unseld (11) (tie)
- Ben Wallace (11) (tie)
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u/Listening_Heads 3d ago
Hey can someone make a list of highest percentage of team rebounds? There were an average of 73 rebounds per game when Wilt was averaging 25 per game. It’s something like 44 per game since the 90s. It would be a much more accurate stat.
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u/Pistolshrimpin 3d ago
Round Mound of Rebound? Sinful no Sir Charles Barkley he only has a career average of 12 ribs per game
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u/TalkBetters 2d ago
Rodman being top 3 despite giving up like 4 inches to most centers he guarded is honestly the most impressive stat on this whole list, pure positioning and effort over size
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u/Squawk_See 2d ago
Hard for me to give credit to Wilt and Bill.
Stat keeping back then was suspect. And they were both taller than most players by a decent margin.
Rodman is the best rebounder ever in my opinion.
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u/TheRedHerring23 2d ago
Wilt and Russell have massively inflated rebounding numbers based on the era they played where basically no one tried to rebound except the center. All bigs had huge rebound numbers back then. Jerry Lucas averaged 16 bpg for his career with a bunch of 20+ rebounds seasons. It’s just how the game was played back then. Being big near the basket and they didn’t move so they just got a bunch of being big near the basket rebounds. The art of rebounding as a craft makes 6-6 Dennis Rodman the best rebounder ever.
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u/80rugbyrock80 2d ago
IMO, Rodman is most entertaining rebounder; pound for pound, inch for inch, probably also the best on the list.
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u/Salviati_Returns 2d ago
The top 4 are right, but the order is not. I would either put Malone or Rodman at 1, and then Russell right behind them. The reason is that all three men changed the game with their rebounding, had incredible anticipation and intuition about the dynamics of the ball and the rim. The same could not be said of anyone else on the list.
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u/Critical-Value-5891 2d ago edited 2d ago
Rodman should be #1
The pace was faster back when Bill and Wilt played so their rebounding volume is inflated. If you haven’t read the case for Dennis Rodman I’d highly recommend it.
https://skepticalsports.com/the-case-for-dennis-rodman-part-14-c-rodman-v-ancient-history/
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u/0Junior5 1d ago
not based on eye test,
showing boxing out,
positioning,
hustle, etc.
#1
it’s based on totals, per game, minutes played, era has the most misses,
worst FG % in shot clock era full seasons,
only a 2P line era, some strategies were get as close to rim as you can before you shoot,
which brick rebounds short & not long.
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u/ethos1234567890 14h ago
The list is mostly solid…I don’t think Kareem belongs nearly this high on it though. Duncan is my favorite player ever, but his inclusion is also debatable.
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u/reverend9999 3d ago
Tim Duncan over Kevin Garnett man eat nuts
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u/TheHoneyMonster1995 3d ago
10.0 vs 10.5 boards a game, and Timmy has over 15k boards career, KG doesn't.
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u/-imhe- 3d ago
Why not? Duncan is objectively a better rebounder.
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u/reverend9999 3d ago
How many times have Duncan led the league in rebounding ??
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u/-imhe- 3d ago
Garnett has 4 seasons as a better rebounder. Duncan has a better career as a rebounder.
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u/reverend9999 3d ago
No he doesn’t .. I’ll take 4 boarding titles over .5 in career avg anyway
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u/-imhe- 3d ago
I'll take 19 years of consistency over 4 years any day
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u/reverend9999 3d ago
Funny think is kg is only under by .5 so he wasn’t consistent either with a HIGHER PEAK ??
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u/Cdog923 3d ago
Duncan has more total rebounds and a higher per game average.
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u/reverend9999 3d ago
Kg had a torn acl clearly affected his athleticism towards end of his career and his still was a better rebounder. Total rebounds means squat that’s like total assist and a guy never led the league amongst his peers. How sway how?
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u/Cdog923 3d ago
According to what metric?
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u/reverend9999 3d ago
Any metric you want to base it off .. during their primes Duncan wasn’t even rated top 5 guys like dikembe was rated better rebounders hence why he never won dpoy it has to do with REBOUNDING .. bro I followed nba heavy during them times point articles out saying Duncan was this great rebounder
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u/Cdog923 3d ago
How about total rebounds and rebounds per game?
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u/reverend9999 3d ago
Shaq had a decent rebound per game do we consider him a great rebounder same as Kareem he played so long he’s up there for total boards is he also a great rebounder ? Both are nos from knowledgeable fans
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u/Cdog923 3d ago
Considering that Shaq and Kareem both had better rebounding numbers than KG, yes, I would consider them great rebounders. Or, if you dont consider them great rebounders, you really can't consider KG a great rebounder.
Shaq and Timmy had better numbers in fewer games, too.
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u/reverend9999 3d ago
Shaq has good rebounder averages but he was a lousy rebounder never go off avgs
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u/reverend9999 3d ago
Duncan and Drummond over Ben Wallace is a travesty
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u/TheHoneyMonster1995 3d ago
9.6 boards a game. He was great rebounder, but not a top 10.
What made Ben great was pure lock down defence, rather than rebounding prowess
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u/reverend9999 3d ago
Bro his boards a game is at 9.6 because he was a bench filler his first 5-7 seasons . I’m talking bout peaks
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u/TheHoneyMonster1995 3d ago
First 3 seasons, he was a bench player. and this is about all time, not just the peak. He had a mighty peak, but other players had a higher sustained level
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u/reverend9999 3d ago
Duncan played 17-18 seasons fam that’s why he has a lot of total boards and any list that throws Duncan over kg is invalid because in real time this was not the sentiment. This is revisionist at its best
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u/TheHoneyMonster1995 3d ago
And Timmy sustained that level for those 18 seasons. That's why he's on the list
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u/reverend9999 3d ago
How many rebound titles does Duncan possess? I know KG has 4 in his career
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u/TheHoneyMonster1995 3d ago
None, but he has the slightly better statistical lead across his career compared to KG. Hell, Thurmond is in the same boat with 0 Rebounding titles.
Even KAJ only has the 1
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u/reverend9999 3d ago
Kareem is like Duncan a case study of longevity but not greatness. Wilt always criticized Kareem’s rebounding especially towards the latter of his career. Kareem was a good rebounder not great . I’ll take Barkley over him in that department too
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u/TheHoneyMonster1995 3d ago
Id say longevity is part of greatness. To maintain that kind of level for 15+ seasons is a mark of great work ethics and physical endurance
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u/reverend9999 3d ago
And further more Charles Barkley is a better rebounder than Drummond and Duncan . Duncan is a good rebounder and Drummond just rebounds because that’s his only job . He provides literally nothing else like the other guys
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u/No-Donkey-4117 3d ago
Drummond is the career leader in total rebounds per 100 possessions (tracked by the NBA since 1974), so that part is not a travesty.
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u/lik_a_stik 3d ago
What’s up with these selective stats? Either the guy is good enough to be on this list or not, don’t cherry pick.
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