NBA: The best rebounder of all time from every NBA team

Best rebounder in Milwaukee Bucks history: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

There he is! Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain are already on this list, so you knew it was only a matter of time before the NBA’s all-time scoring leader made his way on here.

The Milwaukee Bucks center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — known at the time as Lew Alcindor — with the first overall pick in the 1969 NBA Draft and the former UCLA Bruin immediately paid dividends. In his first season with the team, Abdul-Jabbar averaged an eye-popping 28.8 points and 14.5 rebounds per game, netting him the 1969-70 NBA Rookie of the Year award.

At 7-foot-2, Abdul-Jabbar towered over most players, giving him a decided advantage on the offensive end with his nearly impossible to defend Skyhook. It also gave him an edge on defense and on the glass. Abdul-Jabbar’s rebounding efforts during his rookie season were the first of 12 consecutive seasons where he averaged at least 10 boards per game.

Along with Oscar Robertson, Abdul-Jabbar helped turn the Bucks into a legitimate championship contender. The team improved their win total from 27 to 56 in one season and ultimately won an NBA championship in 1971, their third season of existence.

Abdul-Jabbar would finish the rest of his brilliant career with the Los Angeles Lakers, but his legacy with the Bucks remains untarnished (he still has the most win shares in franchise history by a significant margin), especially when it comes to rebounding.

His 7,161 boards are still the most in franchise history — the next closest is Bob Dandridge with 4,497 — as is his, 15.9 rebounds per game, 25.0 percent defensive rebounding rate and 17.9 percent total rebounding rate. Adbul-Jabbar’s numbers on the glass are just another reason he’s considered one of the GOAT’s.