Once upon a time, the NBA was "the insider gets the world", even when Michael Jordan dominated the NBA, there were frame guards around him; But there are no centers in the top five of the NBA's playoff rebounds total in the past decade, and who are these five other than LeBron James?
Bill Russell is the "Lord of the Rings", Chamberlain is the "Emperor of Basketball", they once pushed the NBA to the climax, they created a number of rebounding records that no one can match, and the center boom of the 90s is also unforgettable; However, with the development of the NBA, quality centers are rare, and even the emergence of people such as Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid in recent years still cannot change the reality that NBA centers are on the verge of extinction, and the absence of centers in the top five of the NBA's playoff rebounding list in the past decade also confirms this.
In the last 10 years, James has played the most playoffs of any player in the league, and he is far ahead of all players in the total playoff scores during this time, and many people may overlook that James also ranked first in the league in total playoff rebounds during this time. James has grabbed a total of 1393 rebounds in 151 playoff games during this period, averaging 9.2 rebounds per game.
Second on the list is James' old rival Drummond Green. Many people should remember the image of Green wrestling with James in the Finals for four consecutive years, and he made an indelible contribution to the establishment of the Warriors dynasty. In the last decade, Green has grabbed a total of 1308 rebounds in 145 playoff games, averaging 9.0 rebounds per game.
Many people know that Kawhi Leonard is very defensive, his first FMVP trophy was due to the successful defense against James, he also has a good ability to key the ball, but many people ignore his rim protection ability is not bad. In the last decade, Leonard has grabbed 977 rebounds in 121 playoff games, ranking third among all players and averaging 8.1 rebounds per game.
Alphabet Brother, who has gathered almost all of the NBA's personal honors, ranks fourth on the list, grabbing a total of 912 rebounds in 76 playoff games, averaging 12.0 rebounds per game. Alphabet Brother's playoff rebounds per game have also been able to rank third among all players in the league in the past decade, behind Reggie Evans and DeAndre Jordan.
As one of the few players in NBA history to have won the Finals MVP, Durant has grabbed 872 rebounds in 112 playoff games in the past decade, ranking fifth among all players in the league in the same period, and he has averaged 7.8 rebounds per game during this time.
There have been no centers in the top five of the NBA's playoff total rebounding list for nearly a decade, and the more rim-guarding responsibilities taken on by the top forwards in the league at the same time are the result of the NBA's development and the fulfillment of Pat Riley's predictions in the 1980s.
It is worth mentioning that the center with the most total rebounds in the playoffs in the past decade is Al Horford, who grabbed 855 rebounds in 105 playoff games and ranked sixth among all players; The guard who grabbed the most rebounds in the playoffs in this decade was Stephen Curry, who grabbed 719 rebounds in 134 playoff games.