Hoops Habit
Fansided

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

By Christopher Jeter

Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks (Photo credit should read MATT CAMPBELL/AFP via Getty Images)
Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks (Photo credit should read MATT CAMPBELL/AFP via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
20 of 30
Next
Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks
(Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Best rebounder in New York Knicks history: Patrick Ewing

Honestly, the greatest rebounder in New York Knicks history was going to come down to either Patrick Ewing or Charles Oakley. Both men rank in the top-three in the franchise’s all-time lists for offensive, defensive and total rebounds.

Plus, these two were at the forefront of one of the Knicks most recent run of success. Ultimately, Ewing’s wide lead in the defensive and total rebounding categories gives him the nod here.

The Knicks took Ewing with the first overall pick in the 1985 NBA Draft. The Georgetown product quickly proved himself worthy of that selection, as he averaged 20.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game en route to winning NBA Rookie of the Year honors after the 1985-86 season.

He continued to hover around that 8-9 rebound range until the 1989-90 season, where he averaged 10.9 boards to go along with a career-best 28.6 points per game. That would be the first of nine-straight seasons in which Ewing averaged at least 10 rebounds per game.

That’s impressive considering he played alongside the likes of Oakley and Anthony Mason for much of that time.

In addition to his impressive cumulative totals, Ewing also ranks seventh on the franchise’s all-time rebounds per game list, while ranking sixth in defensive rebounding percentage. Again, playing alongside bruisers like Oakley and Mason probably affected his rate stats, so his place on those lists is still pretty impressive.

Despite his greatness, some analysts still malign Ewing for his inability to show up in big moments, simply for having the misfortune of playing in the same era as Michael Jordan. But as former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy mentioned in the Winning Time “30 for 30” documentary, there wouldn’t have been any big moments without him. As one of the great big men, Ewing deserves his place here.