The Los Angeles Lakers are acknowledged as one of the finest franchises in the history of the NBA. They have a reputation for glorious achievements, along with 17 championship trophies. Moreover, the glory comes with the dedication of players and coaches. Above all, some of the legendary players have been a part of this well-known franchise. In this article, we will discuss the five top Lakers rebounders of all time.
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What is a rebound?
Generally, in basketball matches, the rebound is an essential part of any team as it provides the opportunity of possession of the ball to a team. For both offense and defense, each possession turns helpful to win the basketball match. In basketball, two reboundings are mainly popular;
- Defensive rebounding and
- Offensive rebounding.
Top Five Lakers Rebounders of All Time
As we have mentioned previously that the Lakers have produced several excellent players; in the article, we have shortlisted the five best rebounders of the Los Angeles Lakers according to their respective performance.
Elgin Baylor
Elgin Gay Baylor is popularly known as Elgin Baylor in the world of basketball. Elgin Baylor can be considered as the best rebounder of the Lakers of all time. It should be noted that he was playing actively for the Lakers for 14 seasons and 846 games. In this long time, though he was unable to achieve a championship trophy, Baylor has a score of 11,463 rebounds in the seasons, and for the playoffs, 1724 rebounds, averaging 13.5 rebounds in a season, and 12.9 rebounds in playoffs.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Secondly, Kareem Abdul Jabbar is another known name in the world of basketball. He was born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr. Abdul Jabbar used to play in the center and was quite popular for his 7.2 height.
The 33 number jersey holder had six championship titles in the NBA among the 17 titles. He played 14 seasons in the NBA and had 10273 rebounds in the seasons, and for the playoffs, 2481 rebounds. His gaming average was 11.2 rebounds in a season and 10.5 rebounds in the playoffs. On the other hand, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is also quite famous for having 2,494 offensive and 7,785 defensive rebounds.
Kobe Bryant
Generally, several critics have referred to Kobe Bryant as the best Laker of all time. Indeed, Bryant had spent the long 20 years of his life with the Los Angeles Lakers where he used to play in the position of a shooting guard.
Moreover, popularly known as “The Black Mamba”, Bryant had a score of 7047 rebounds in the seasons, and for the playoffs, 1129 rebounds, averaging 5.2 rebounds in a season, and 5.1 rebounds in playoffs. In his entire career for the Lakers, Bryant has 1,499 offensive and 5,548 defensive rebounds.
Magic Johnson
Earvin Johnson Jr., popularly known as Magic Johnson used to play in the Point Guard or Forward. The 32 number jersey holder had spent 13 seasons in the NBA with five championship titles.
Magic had a score of 6559 rebounds in the seasons, and for the playoffs, 1465 rebounds, averaging 7.2 rebounds in a season, and 7.7 rebounds in playoffs.
Wilt Chamberlain
Last but not least, we have another name to mention “Wilt Chamberlain”. The full name of Wilt Chamberlain is Wilton Norman Chamberlain. He used to play in the center for the Los Angeles Lakers with a jersey number 13. Chamberlain was actively playing for five seasons with 339 matches with a rebound of 6524.
The cheers of fans are immense in number when the Lakers get the opportunity to rebound. And if it is a defensive rebound in the time of losing the match, however, the game turns in the hand of the Lakers.