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

Best rebounder in Washington Bullets history: Wes Unseld

Quick question! Did you know that Wes Unseld was the second player in NBA history to win MVP and Rookie of the Year honors in the same season? Do you know who was the first? To save you a quick Google search, it was Wilt Chamberlain. That’s pretty exclusive company.

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While Unseld wasn’t the same ballpark as Chamberlain in terms of scoring, he crafted a Hall of Fame career with great defense (he led the league in defensive box plus/minus twice), good passing skills (career 3.9 assists per game, which is great for a center) and dominance on the glass.

Despite being undersized for a center — he’s listed at 6-foot-7 — Unseld used his strength to outwork his larger adversaries on the glass. It showed on the stat sheet. In his 13-year career, Unseld never averaged fewer than 9.2 rebounds per game.

With production like that, it’s no wonder he holds the all-time Washington Bullets/Wizards record for rebounds — Unseld has 13,769, the next closest is Elvin Hayes with 9,305.

Additionally, Unseld ranks second on Washington’s all-time rebounds per game list (14.0), fifth on its all-time rebounding percentage list (18.0) and fourth on its defensive rebounding rate list (24.5).

Unseld’s effort’s helped lead the then-Bullets to heights that the franchise hasn’t experienced in quite some time. With him anchoring the post, Washington made four trips to the NBA Finals — one of which took place when they were in Baltimore — ultimately winning the championship in 1978.

Unseld wasn’t a high-volume scorer, but he turned the Bullets into a great defensive team and ultimately helped them win the richest prize an NBA team can attain. That’s more than I can say for any other player that has played for this team since then.