NBA Stats Leaders: Top 10 Rebounding Leaders in NBA history

When a player misses a field goal or free throw, the act of retrieving the ball is called Rebounding. Colloquially referred to as a 'board', it is one of the most underrated and often overlooked aspects in Basketball. Highlights brimming with rim-shattering dunks and swat-away blocks never really leave space for the dirty work done under the board.

It can be either a defensive rebound (by a player of the team on defence) or an offensive rebound(by a player of the team on offence), the chances of the latter being relatively less. The race to be the first one to pull the ball down immediately after a miss is something of a physical tussle. Players use physicality to try and box each other out in the paint and place themselves in a position to grab the rebound when the ball rims out.

Often the hustle that accompanies rebounding a ball night in and night out goes about unnoticed. Nevertheless, the offensive rebounds leading to second-chance points as well as the paint-protection to secure almost all of the defensive rebounds play a huge underlying role in the way the game of basketball shapes itself throughout the 4 quarters.

Here are some unsung heroes who took all the hits(literally) for their teams & ruled the boards:

#10 Nate Thurmond

Nate The Great is referred to as one of the greatest centers in NBA's history

Drafted third overall by the San Francisco Warriors (modern-day Golden State Warriors) in 1963, Nate's skillset found him a place in the NBA's All-Rookie team, playing sidekick to Wilt Chamberlain in his debut season. He then went on to average more rebounds (18.1 rpg) than points(16.5 ppg) in his second year.

Apart from an adept rebounder, Nate's mastery in blocking shots at will is something the stat sheets can't validate, as block shots were not recorded at that point in time in the NBA. Had that not been the case, his numbers would surely have been something to be praised.

Named in the All-NBA first defensive team twice (1969 & 1971), Thurmond was also the first person to record a quadruple-double in NBA's history when he stacked up 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocks in his first game with the Bulls after being traded from the Warriors. He pulled down a total of 14,464 boards throughout his career and is 10th on the all-time rebounding list.

#9 Kevin Garnett

KG was part of the 2008 NBA Championship winning Celtics team

Kevin Garnett was drafted 5th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1995, but his glory run started when he was traded to Boston Celtics for a record(highest in the league) seven players in exchange.

Kevin Garnett won his only ring with the Boston Celtics when they defeated the Lakers 4-2 in the 2008 NBA Finals. He was also awarded the 'Defensive Player of the Year' in the same year as the 6'11" forward led the Celtics in rebounds with a 9.2 average (7.3 defensive rpg), to go along with 18.8 points, 1.2 blocks and 1.4 steals. He recorded a team season-high seven blocks against Chicago in that season.

His monstrous defence headlined by dominant defensive rebounding is highlighted by one particular statistic. Although KG has 14,662 rebounds in total, out of which 11,453 are defensive rebounds, that ranks him No. 1 on the all-time defensive rebounding list. Garnett leads the NBA in defensive rebounding by a fair margin even after his retirement as the next active player(Dirk Nowitzki) on the list lags behind by more than 1,500 defensive rebounds.

#8 Robert Parish

Parish was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003

Listed as 7 feet tall, Robert Parish has played an NBA record 1,611 regular season games. Playing for the Celtics from 1980 to 1994, Parish's ability to dominate the boards coupled with Larry Bird's greatness won them 3 NBA titles(1981, 1984 & 1986). After being traded to the Charlotte Hornets and subsequently to the Chicago Bulls, Parish played his last season with the Bulls in 1996-97 which won him his 4th NBA title.

Also known for his strong defence, Parish was a 9-time All-star and in 1996, was selected by the NBA as one of the '50 greatest Players of All time' along with teammates Larry Bird & Kevin McHale. Robert Parish is 2nd on the all-time offensive rebounding list with 4,598 rebounds to his name. His mammoth total of 14,715 career rebounds is 8th on the NBA's all-time rebounding list.

#7 Karl Malone

Karl Malone has the second most defensive rebounds of all-time in the NBA

Karl Malone's 36,928 points are 2nd on the all-time scoring list of the NBA. And THAT is what usually takes the spotlight away from his rebounding finesse. Built like a tank (6 ft 9 in tall & weighing 250 lb), 'The Mailman' was the opposition's nightmare in the paint as he would ram his way through the defence with no regard for human life on a daily basis every night.

He pulled down 14,968 rebounds in total while playing for the Jazz (18 seasons) and the Lakers (1 season) during his career. 11,406 defensive rebounds for his team landed him the 2nd spot on the all-time defensive rebounding list.

Being named in the All-NBA First Team 11 times during his time in the league, Karl was also a member of the NBA's All-defensive first team for three years in a row(1997-99). His supremacy on both ends of the floor has been argued to be the greatest of all time.

#6 Tim Duncan

Duncan's #21 jersey has been retired by the Spurs franchise

Duncan was drafted first overall by the San Antonio Spurs and went on to win 'Rookie of the Year' in 1998. He played his entire 19 years in the NBA serving the Spurs, and is a 5-time NBA champion, 15-time NBA All-Star and 2-time regular season MVP.

He suffered a knee injury in 2000, but he bounced back to win MVP award the next season, in what was one of the most incredible comebacks in the league's history. In 2012–13 he was named, at age 37, first-team All-NBA for the 10th time in his career. Along with agility on the offensive side of the floor, Duncan had a strong presence on the defensive end as well. He was named in the NBA's All-defensive First Team 8 times during his illustrious career.

Tim Duncan is the 3rd best defensive rebounder in the league all-time with 11,232 boards against his name AND also the 10th best offensive rebounder of all-time with 3,859 of them. Not many players in this versatile league can float such a rebounding stat-line as Duncan does.

#5 Moses Malone

Malone was nicknamed "Chairman of the Boards" for his rebounding prowess.

Moses Eugene Malone played both in American Basketball Association(ABA) & National Basketball Association (NBA) started from 1974 all the way up to 1995. After the ABA dissolved in 1976, he was acquired by the NBA’s Buffalo Braves, who traded him to the Houston Rockets two games into the 1976–77 season.

Agile on his feet and assiduous, Malone stood 6 feet 10 inches tall and moved around the court like a 6-foot playmaker. The legend was a 12-time NBA All-star and a 3-time MVP, along with being the 1983 NBA Champion.

For six of the seven seasons from 1978 to 1985, he led the NBA in rebounds. His career rebounds tally stood at 16,212 at the time he retired, currently on the 7th spot in the league's all-time defensive rebounding list with 9,481 defensive rebounds.

In 1997 the NBA named him one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history, and in 2001 he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

#4 Elvin Hayes

Hayes' averaged 17.1 rebounds per game as a rookie for the Rockets

Elvin Hayes' college basketball legacy has been written in gold. He scored 39 points in the final game and averaged 31 ppg & 17.2 rpg for the University of Houston to end UCLA's 47-game winning streak in the first televised college basketball game, widely referred to as the "Game of the Century".

He was drafted by the San Diego(Now Houston) Rockets in 1986 and dropped a scoring average which is 5th best all-time by a rookie.

As early as he possibly could, he led the league in rebounding in his second season itself. By the time he hung his basketball boots, he had pulled down 16,279 rebounds which is the 4th most all-time by any player and has a career average of 12.5 rebounds per game. Elvin Ernest Hayes was also a 12-time All-Star and also an integral part of the 1978 championship winning Washington Bullets' team.

#3 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul Jabbar is NBA's all-time leading scorer with 38,387 points

Kareem stood at 7 feet 2 inches tall and redefined the game of basketball for big men. Lew Alcindor(until 1971) helped lead UCLA to three NCAA Championships(1967, 1968, 1969) and was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks for the 1969-70 season. He won the 'Rookie of the Year' and the very next year, led the Bucks to an NBA Championship, also leading the league in scoring & points per game, as he did so.

Kareem has collected 17,440 career boards(3rd highest all-time in the league) out of which 9,394 rebounds (9th highest all-time in the league) were on the defensive end.

Along with 6 Championship rings on his fingers(1 with Milwaukee & 5 with the Lakers), he ended his career as a 19-time NBA All-star, having his #33 jersey retired by both the Milwaukee Bucks & the Los Angele Lakers franchise. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar retired at the end of the 1988–89 season, having been voted NBA's Most Valuable Player a record six times.

#2 Bill Russell

He won 11 NBA titles in the 13 seasons that he played with the Boston Celtics

Bill Russell (by name of William Felton Russell) is one of the sport's greatest icons & the NBA Finals MVP award is named after him.

He played just 13 seasons in the NBA, got named an All-star in 12 of them AND won the regular season MVP award in 5 of those seasons (1958, 1961-63, 1965).

He played defensive centre for the Boston Celtics from 1956-69 and proved to be a revolutionary star for the franchise right form his rookie year. The Celtics won an NBA Title in his debut season and he was catapulted into the spotlight as the first African American star of the league. More inclined towards shot-blocking and rebounding rather than making shots, Russell was the NBA rebounding Champion four times in his career (1958, 1959, 1964, 1965) and averaged 22..5 career rebounds per game. By the time he was done with the game, he had amassed 21,620 boards, which is the 2nd highest all-time.

In 13 seasons, Russell won 11 NBA championships (1957, 1959–66, and 1968–69) as he widely came to be known as 'Basketball's Ultimate Winner'.

#1 Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain was nicknamed 'Wilt the Stilt' and the 'Big Dipper'

Wilton Norman Chamberlain played the center position and is widely considered one of the greatest and most dominant players in NBA history. He stood 7 feet 1 inch tall and weighed 250 pounds in his rookie year, eventually bulking up to 300 pounds. Wilt was given many names, one of them being "The Big Dipper", which was inspired by his friends who saw him dip his head as he walked through doorways.

One of Chamberlain’s most incredible feat was never having being fouled out of an NBA game. A 13-time NBA All-star and 4-time regular season MVP, Wilt was chosen(in 1996) by the NBA as one of the 50 greatest players ever to play in the NBA.

He is the only player to score 100 points in a single NBA game or average more than 40 and 50 points in a season. He is also the only player to average at least 30 points and 20 rebounds per game over the entire course of his NBA career. NBA records suggest Chamberlain had pulled down 23,934 boards during his career, which is second to none on the NBA's all-time rebounding list. He was also an 11-time NBA rebounding champion.

Wilt Chamberlain was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978.