With the New Orleans Pelicans not set to play basketball for quite some time (they play their first preseason game on October 10th), we thought we’d use their hiatus to dig into some historical rankings.
After tackling the topic of scoring, we thought we’d use this post to go over the franchise’s best rebounders. So, with that in mind, who is the best rebounder in Pelicans (and Hornets) franchise history?
Well, the interesting thing about the word “best” is that it isn’t technically an objective term, meaning that it is open to some interpretation. To keep things simple, though, we will focus on rebounding volume.
There are two ways we will measure rebounding volume. The first way we will do it is by looking at the top-10 players in points scored as a member of the Pelicans/Hornets. This is what that list looks like:
Top-10 in Points Rebounds in Pelicans/Hornets History
1. Anthony Davis – 4,906 rebounds
2. David West – 3,853 rebounds
3. P.J. Brown – 2,675 rebounds
4. Tyson Chandler – 2,225 rebounds
5. Chris Paul – 1,951 rebounds
6. Jamaal Magloire – 1,776 rebounds
7. Emeka Okafor – 1,759 rebounds
8. Jrue Holiday – 1,728 rebounds
9. Jonas Valancunias – 1,647 rebounds
10. Al-Farouq Aminu – 1,389 rebounds
Just as was the case with the all-time scoring list, Anthony Davis is the franchise’s all-time leader in rebounds. Davis was able to nab nearly 5,000 rebounds in his seven seasons with the Hornets/Pelicans. And also just like with the all-time scoring list, David West sits in second place in this category.
But again, as we said before, looking at raw counting statistics biases toward longevity with the franchise. That’s why you have someone like Chris Paul (who spent six seasons with the franchise) in fifth place in this category despite being a 6-foot point guard.
And that’s why we have our second measure for rebound volume: rebounds per game (RPG). So, here are the top-10 Pelicans/Hornets in RPG:
Top-10 in Rebounds Per Game in Pelicans/Hornets History
1. Tyson Chandler – 11.3 RPG
2. Jonas Valancunias – 10.8 RPG
3. Anthony Davis – 10.5 RPG
4. Jamaal Magloire – 9.5 RPG
5. Emeka Okafor – 8.5 RPG
6. P.J. Brown – 8.5 RPG
7. Josh Hart – 7.3 RPG
8. David West – 7.2 RPG
9. Omer Asik – 7.0 RPG
10. Zion Williamson – 7.0 RPG
When you look at per-game averages, it looks like the franchise leader is Tyson Chandler, with Davis finishing at third this time. Also, it looks like one of the best rebounders in franchise history is currently on the roster right now, as Jonas Valanciunas, the team’s starting center, is currently in second place in this category.