The Portland Trail Blazers have seen a multitude of stars don their uniform over their five decades-plus in existence. Many have counted exceptional rebounding prowess as pivotal components of their skill sets.
Here’s a closer look at the top five rebounders in Trail Blazers history:
The versatile LaMarcus Aldridge spent the first nine years of his distinguished NBA career in Portland, where he quickly validated a Draft-night trade with the Bulls. Aldridge averaged 5.0 rebounds per game in his rookie season, but he leveraged his 6-foot-11 frame to pull down between 7.5 and a career-high 11.1 rebounds per game in his subsequent eight campaigns in Portland.
Hall-of-Famer Clyde “The Glide” Drexler was a 10-time All-Star who played the first 12 of his 15 years of his NBA career in Portland. One of the most accomplished players in team history, Drexler collected no fewer than 5.5 rebounds per game in his last 11 seasons with the Blazers, including a career-high 8.0 during the 1985-86 campaign. In addition to his considerable scoring and defensive contributions, Drexler’s long 6-foot-7 frame enabled him to serve as a steady rebounder.
Jerome Kersey’s first 11 NBA seasons were spent in Portland where he was a solid source of complementary across-the-stat-sheet contributions for much of his tenure. As a small forward, Kersey was an above-average rebounder, posting between 8.2 and 8.4 rebounds per game in four of those seasons and between 6.0 and 6.6 in three other campaigns during that span.
Mychal Thompson made an immediate impact for the Trail Blazers as a rookie, wasting no time validating their investment of the first overall pick in the 1978 Draft. At a lanky 6-foot-11, Thompson proved to be an accomplished patroller of the paint from the onset and averaged 8.3 rebounds in his first season. He upped it to a career-high 11.7 rebounds by his fourth season and finished strong as a Blazer. Thompson recorded 7.8 and 7.4 rebounds in his final two campaigns in Portland.
Buck Williams was already an established rebounding talent when he arrived in Portland via trade with the then New Jersey Nets ahead of the 1989-90 season. Williams proved to be a good fit right from the start while frequently sharing the floor with both Drexler and Kersey, recording 9.8 rebounds per game in his first season with the Blazers, 9.4 in his second and a career-best 10.4 during the 1993-94 campaign. Williams never averaged less than 8.2 rebounds per game with Portland until his final season, when he went from a full-time member of the first unit to only logging 10 starts across 70 appearances.
