You certainly cannot accuse Andre Drummond of selling himself short.
Speaking this week at his “Andre’s All-Stars” youth program in Middletown, Conn., the new Chicago Bulls big man spoke about his place in NBA history. Drummond said that he believes he is the greatest rebounder of all-time.
“I think I’m already there,” said Drummond, per Mike Anthony of CT Insider. “I’m on my way. By the time I retire, I’ll go down as the best rebounder ever — if not already.”
Drummond, who is still only 29, probably has an argument for the greatest rebounder of this generation. He has led the NBA in rebounding four times and has produced three of the six highest-rebounding seasons in the 21st century. But when it comes to all-time, Drummond (who has 9,519 total rebounds right now) will likely never catch the likes of Wilt Chamberlain (23,924), Bill Russell (21,620), and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (17,440).
At the same time, Drummond’s peak campaign of 16.0 rebounds per contest was less than the respective peaks of players such as Dennis Rodman (18.7 a game), Artis Gilmore (17.7), and Moses Malone (17.6). Though Drummond does have a higher career rebounding average (13.3 per game) than any of those guys as well as the highest rebounding percentage of all-time (24.7), he still has the back nine of his career to play with a lot more room to the downside for those numbers.
It is great that Drummond has the confidence in his own abilities, especially since he has struggled to fit in during recent years. But his statement here falls flat of the mark considering all the legendary NBA rebounders who came before Drummond did.
