Modern-day NBA fans know a little something about big numbers being put up by players every now and then. The most glorious stat line has always been high individual scores. But since Dennis Rodman‘s retirement, rebounding does not get the same recognition that it used to. That’s probably because we don’t see masters of the craft like Rodman in the league today.
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The Chicago Bulls legend perfected the art of rebounding during his prime. And his 49-rebound stat is a testimony to that, leaving even Kevin Garnett in awe. During his time with the San Antonio Spurs, Dennis Rodman once had an insane two-game stretch. He did not score a single point in any of the two games but managed to grab a staggering 49 rebounds instead.
In 1993, Dennis Rodman went on a rebounding spree of sorts. The Worm’s 49 rebounds with 0 points came on back-to-back nights. In the first game on the 10th of November, 1993, the Spurs faced the Phoenix Suns where Rodman had 25 rebounds. Just two days after, the San Antonio Spurs played the Sacramento Kings where he grabbed 24 rebounds.
Rodman scored 0 points in both games. He’s had numerous games where his focus was to just get the boards and leave the point production to his teammates. The Worm even had a 28-rebound game with 0 points against the Charlotte Hornets only weeks after his 49-rebound stat line. And to put things in perspective, the Worm had a 13-point 29 rebound game one night before his scoreless rebounding spree.
Kevin Garnett was beyond impressed with Dennis Rodman’s ability to grab an insane amount of boards. He went to his Instagram account recently to share a post on the insane statline his Stories. Garnett captioned the post, “Right. Shout to the Worm,” followed by a 100 emoji.
He also wrote, “Cmon man, FUXXIN [Goat emoji]”
As mentioned above, Dennis Rodman had perfected the art of rebounding. He managed to boil down his skills down to a science. Rodman had once revealed how he mastered grabbing boards.
The Bulls star would study the spin of a basketball to position himself at the right place to get rebounds. He had made rebounding a stat that started to get more recognition than before. Despite being an undersized forward, he used his speed and agility to knock the ball away from taller bigs and walk away with the rebound. And now, he is known as the greatest rebounder of all time.
Kevin Garnett’s admiration for Dennis Rodman
Kevin Garnett once shared an insane story about Dennis Rodman in his book KG:A to Z. The former Boston Celtics star was drafted right out of high school the very same year the Chicago Bulls went on to win 72 games and then another championship.
Garnett’s Minnesota Timberwolves were one of the teams to beat the Bulls that year. As per Basketball Network, Garnett was moved after his first interaction with Dennis Rodman after the game.
“I’m sitting there when who struts in but Rodman, wearing these big a** combat boots that come up to his knees. He’s wearing sweats and combat boots! It’s him and his trainer.”
“He ain’t slowing down. He’s drenched in sweat. I’m thinking man it’s time to go home! But no, my man is turning up the speed. He’s anticipating the next challenge and putting in extra work to meet that challenge. He’s crazy,” Garnett added.
KG admired Rodman’s work ethic. He even went on to take a lot of advice offered by Rodman on how to proceed further in the league. And based on how much respect Garnett had accumulated for The Worm, he listened on keenly as a young rookie in the league.
