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Rebounds are one of the valued statistics in basketball and NBA history is littered with men who dominated on that front. Not surprisingly, revered big men Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell were at the forefront of it, taking turns breaking rebounding records after rebounding records across their careers.
3 times that NBA rebound records were broken in a game
#3. Bill Russell breaks Neil Johnston’s record in 1957
Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell prided himself in defense and rebounding and broke the record for most boards grabbed with 49 on November 16, 1957, against the Philadelphia Warriors in their 111-89 victory.
The then 23-year-old Russell eclipsed the previous mark set by the Warriors’ Neil Johnston of 39 rebounds in 1954.
The Celtics legend already had 32 rebounds at the halfway mark of the said game. Apart from grabbing 49 rebounds, Russell finished the game with 28 points and four assists.
#2. Bill Russell breaks his own record three years later
Bill Russell continued to be tops in rebounding while leading the Boston Celtics to even greater heights as the 1950s ended and all the way to the '60s.
He eventually broke his own record of 49 on February 5, 1960, collaring 51 rebounds in their game against the Syracuse Nationals, where they won, 124-100.
He peppered his performance by scoring 23 points, going 8-16 from the field while dishing out five assists.
#1. Wilt Chamberlain established new all-time record of 55 rebounds
Nine months after Russell set a new rebounding record, Wilt Chamberlain, then playing for the Philadelphia Warriors, set a new all-time record of 55 rebounds.
Notably, he did it on November 24, 1960, against Russell and the Celtics. Chamberlain’s total rebounds were more than half of the 90 that the Warriors had in the game.
Chamberlain also had 34 points and four assists as he made the historic feat. Philadelphia, however, lost to the Celtics in the game, 132-129.
Years later after he set the rebounding record, which still stands to this day, Chamberlain spoke in an interview of his 55-rebound performance:
“The thing that I remember most about the 55 rebounds was when the game was over that I was probably more tired than I’ve ever been in my entire life.”
Watch Wilt Chamberlain’s historic rebounding feat below:
Furthermore, Chamberlain owns the most rebounds in NBA history with 23,924 (22.9 RPG) and led the league in rebounding a staggering 11 times.
Bill Russell, for his part, finished his career with 21,620 rebounds (22.5 RPG) and averaged 20-plus rebounds per game 10 times in his career.
List of the top 10 rebounders in NBA history
1. Wilt Chamberlain (23,924)
2. Bill Russell (21,620)
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (17,440)
4. Elvin Hayes (16,279)
5. Moses Malone (16,212)
6. Tim Duncan (15,091)
7. Karl Malone (14,968)
8. Robert Parish (14,715)
9. Kevin Garnett (14,662)
10. Dwight Howard (14,627)
