List of National Basketball Association single-game rebounding leaders

This is a list of National Basketball Association players who have had 38 or more rebounds in a single game.

Multiple occurrences: Wilt Chamberlain 29 times (four times in the playoffs) and Bill Russell 23 times (seven times in the playoffs).

The NBA did not record rebounds until the 1950–51 season.

Pre-1973

Key

^	Active NBA player
*	Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
†	Not yet eligible for Hall of Fame consideration^[a]
	Occurred in playoff competition

Single-game leaders

Rebounds	Player	Team	Date	Opponent	Notes
55	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia Warriors	November 24, 1960	Boston Celtics	Record set in a losing effort; grabbed 31 rebounds in one half; scored 34 points.
51	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	February 5, 1960	Syracuse Nationals	Set a then-record.
49	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	November 16, 1957	Philadelphia Warriors	Set a then-record for rebounds in a game; set a still-standing record of 32 rebounds in a single half.
49	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	March 11, 1965	Detroit Pistons
45	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia Warriors	February 6, 1960	Syracuse Nationals	Single-game record for a rookie; scored 44 points; the fourth quadruple double-double in NBA history.
45	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia Warriors	January 21, 1961	Los Angeles Lakers	Scored 56 points; the fifth quadruple double-double in NBA history.
43	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia Warriors	November 10, 1959	New York Knicks	Set a then-record for a rookie; scored 39 points.
43	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia Warriors	December 8, 1961	Los Angeles Lakers	Triple overtime; Chamberlain also scored a then-record 78 points in the game; the sixth quadruple double-double in NBA history.
43	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	January 20, 1963	Los Angeles Lakers
43	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia 76ers	March 6, 1965	Boston Celtics
42	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia Warriors	January 15, 1960	Boston Celtics	Rookie season; scored 44 points; the second quadruple double-double in NBA history.
42	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia Warriors	January 25, 1960	Detroit Pistons	Rookie season; Chamberlain also scored a rookie record 58 points in the same game; the third quadruple double-double in NBA history.
42	Nate Thurmond*	San Francisco Warriors	November 9, 1965	Detroit Pistons
42	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia 76ers	January 14, 1966	Boston Celtics	Scored 37 points.
42	Wilt Chamberlain*	Los Angeles Lakers	March 7, 1969	Boston Celtics	Overtime.
41	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	February 12, 1958	Syracuse Nationals
41	Wilt Chamberlain*	San Francisco Warriors	October 26, 1962	Detroit Pistons	Overtime; scored 50 points; the seventh quadruple double-double in NBA history.
41	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	March 14, 1965	San Francisco Warriors
41	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia 76ers	April 5, 1967	Boston Celtics	Game 3 victory in the Eastern Division finals.
40	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	March 23, 1958	Philadelphia Warriors	Game 3 victory in the Eastern Division finals.
40	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	December 12, 1958	Cincinnati Royals	Overtime.
40	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia Warriors	November 4, 1959	Syracuse Nationals	Set a then-record for a rookie; third game of career; scored 41 points; the first quadruple double-double in NBA history.
40	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	March 29, 1960	St. Louis Hawks	NBA Finals record (tie)
40	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	February 12, 1961	Philadelphia Warriors
40	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	April 18, 1962	Los Angeles Lakers	NBA Finals record (tie); game 7 overtime victory; Russell's 19 rebounds in a single quarter is the most of any NBA quarter — regular season or playoffs; scored 30 points.
40	Jerry Lucas*	Cincinnati Royals	February 29, 1964	Philadelphia 76ers	His rookie season.
40	Wilt Chamberlain*	San Francisco Warriors	November 22, 1964	Detroit Pistons	Scored 50 points; the eighth and final quadruple double-double in NBA history.
40	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia 76ers	December 28, 1965	Boston Celtics	Scored 31 points.
39	Neil Johnston*	Philadelphia Warriors	December 4, 1954	Syracuse Nationals	Set a then-record.
39	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	January 25, 1959	Detroit Pistons
39	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	December 19, 1959	New York Knicks
39	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia Warriors	December 28, 1959	Cincinnati Royals	Rookie season; scored 39 points.
39	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia Warriors	January 13, 1960	Syracuse Nationals	Rookie season; scored 42 points.
39	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia Warriors	January 29, 1960	Boston Celtics	Rookie season; scored 43 points.
39	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	March 19, 1960	Philadelphia Warriors
39	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	March 23, 1961	Syracuse Nationals
39	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia Warriors	November 4, 1961	Detroit Pistons	Scored 58 points.
39	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	December 21, 1961	New York Knicks
39	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia 76ers	April 6, 1965	Boston Celtics	Scored 30 points.
38	Maurice Stokes*	Rochester Royals	January 14, 1956	Syracuse Nationals	Rookie season; triple-double, scored 26 points with 12 assists.
38	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	February 23, 1958	Philadelphia Warriors
38	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	December 4, 1959	New York Knicks
38	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia Warriors	November 29, 1960	Los Angeles Lakers	Scored 44 points.
38	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia Warriors	December 18, 1960	Cincinnati Royals	Scored 32 points.
38	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	April 11, 1961	St. Louis Hawks	Scored 30 points
38	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia Warriors	November 25, 1961	Chicago Packers	Scored 39 points.
38	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	February 21, 1963	San Francisco Warriors
38	Wilt Chamberlain*	San Francisco Warriors	February 21, 1963	Boston Celtics	Scored 40 points.
38	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	April 16, 1963	Los Angeles Lakers
38	Wilt Chamberlain*	San Francisco Warriors	April 24, 1964	Boston Celtics
38	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	January 30, 1965	New York Knicks
38	Bill Russell*	Boston Celtics	March 3, 1965	Los Angeles Lakers
38	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia 76ers	March 2, 1967	San Francisco Warriors	Triple-double, scored 24 points with 13 assists.
38	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia 76ers	April 16, 1967	San Francisco Warriors	Triple-double, scored 10 points with 10 assists; 26 rebounds in one half, setting the NBA Playoffs record.
38	Wilt Chamberlain*	Philadelphia 76ers	December 20, 1967	Seattle SuperSonics	Scored 53 points.
38	Wilt Chamberlain*	Los Angeles Lakers	March 9, 1969	Baltimore Bullets

Since 1973

This is a complete listing for total rebounds since the 1973–74 season, but it is not a complete listing for offensive or defensive rebounds.

Rebounds	Off	Def	Player	Team	Date	Opponent	Score	Minutes played	Points	20-20	Led the league in rebounding	Notes
37	19	18	Moses Malone*	Houston Rockets	February 9, 1979	New Orleans Jazz	106–99	44	33	Yes	Yes	14 rebounds in the first quarter.
35	16	19	Charles Oakley	Chicago Bulls	April 22, 1988	Cleveland Cavaliers	103–107	41	26	Yes	No	Second to last game of season, in a season rebounding title battle, which he lost by a .03 margin to Michael Cage.
34	5	29	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar*	Los Angeles Lakers	December 14, 1975	Detroit Pistons	110–100	42	27	Yes	Yes	NBA single-game record for defensive rebounds.
34	18	16	Dennis Rodman*	Detroit Pistons	March 4, 1992	Indiana Pacers	110–107	45	10	No	Yes	Overtime. 21 rebounds in the second half, including 11 offensive rebounds.
34	8	26	Rony Seikaly	Miami Heat	March 3, 1993	Washington Bullets	125–106	40	12	No	No	Seikaly outrebounded the opposing team, 34–30.
33	15	18	Swen Nater	Milwaukee Bucks	December 19, 1976	Atlanta Hawks	126–109	41	30	Yes	No
33	16	17	Kevin Willis	Atlanta Hawks	February 19, 1992	Washington Bullets	102–103	45	20	Yes	No	Overtime. 11 offensive rebounds in a half.
33	8	25	Charles Barkley*	Houston Rockets	November 2, 1996	Phoenix Suns	110–95	45	20	Yes	No	Barkley outrebounded the opposing team 33–30, and played against his previous team for the first time.
32	4	28	Elvin Hayes*	Capital Bullets	November 17, 1973	Atlanta Hawks	115–109	48	43	Yes	Yes	On Hayes's 28th birthday.
32	7	25	Robert Parish*	Golden State Warriors	March 30, 1979	New York Knicks	114–98	36	30	Yes	No	11 rebounds in the first quarter. 15 rebounds in the first half, 17 rebounds in the second half.
32	7	25	Swen Nater (2)	San Diego Clippers	December 14, 1979	Denver Nuggets	112–108	44	12	No	Yes	21 rebounds in the second half. 18 defensive rebounds in the second half, setting the NBA record. 11 defensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.
32	21	11	Moses Malone* (2)	Houston Rockets	February 11, 1982	Seattle SuperSonics	117–100	44	38	Yes	Yes	NBA single-game record for offensive rebounds; 11 offensive rebounds in one half, 10 in the other half. 15 total rebounds in the first half, 17 rebounds in the second half. Malone outrebounded the opposing team, 32–29.
32	12	20	Dennis Rodman* (2)	Detroit Pistons	January 28, 1992	Charlotte Hornets	100–95	50	16	No	Yes	Overtime.
32	9	23	Dennis Rodman* (3)	San Antonio Spurs	January 22, 1994	Dallas Mavericks	103–83	43	8	No	Yes	13 defensive rebounds in the first half.
31	14	17	Larry Smith	Golden State Warriors	March 28, 1981	Denver Nuggets	139–142	45	23	Yes	No	Rookie. Last Warriors home game of season.
31	11	20	Kevin Willis (2)	Atlanta Hawks	December 3, 1991	Dallas Mavericks	103–99	40	29	Yes	No
31	9	22	Dennis Rodman* (4)	Detroit Pistons	March 14, 1992	Sacramento Kings	89–83	48	7	No	Yes
31	8	23	Dikembe Mutombo*	Denver Nuggets	March 26, 1996	Charlotte Hornets	112–119	51	16	No	No	Double overtime.
31	12	19	Kevin Love^	Minnesota Timberwolves	November 12, 2010	New York Knicks	112–103	40:39	31	Yes	Yes	15 rebounds in the third quarter, and 22 rebounds in the second half. 13 defensive rebounds in the second half.
30	11	19	Jim Fox	Seattle SuperSonics	December 26, 1973	Los Angeles Lakers	129–105	39	25	Yes	No
30	10	20	George T. Johnson	Golden State Warriors	March 15, 1974	Los Angeles Lakers	112–107	48	14	No	No	Elmore Smith of the Lakers had 11 blocks in the same game.
30	6	24	Wes Unseld*	Washington Bullets	April 6, 1975	New Orleans Jazz	119–103	46	11	No	Yes	Last game of season; won season rebounding title over Dave Cowens by a .01 margin. 14 rebounds in the first half, 16 rebounds in the second half.
30	7	23	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar* (2)	Los Angeles Lakers	February 3, 1978	New Jersey Nets	105–99	48	37	Yes	No	Overtime.
30	10	20	Swen Nater (3)	Buffalo Braves	March 4, 1978	New Jersey Nets	111–107	44	27	Yes	No
30	11	19	Michael Cage	Los Angeles Clippers	April 24, 1988	Seattle SuperSonics	100–109	48	8	No	Yes	Last game of season; won season rebounding title over Charles Oakley by a .03 margin.
30	11	19	Dennis Rodman* (5)	San Antonio Spurs	February 21, 1995	Houston Rockets	98–97	40	6	No	Yes
30	8	22	Andrew Bynum	Los Angeles Lakers	April 11, 2012	San Antonio Spurs	98–84	36:41	16	No	No	19 rebounds in the first half.
30	11	19	Dwight Howard†	Charlotte Hornets	March 21, 2018	Brooklyn Nets	111–105	34	32	Yes	No
30	12	18	Enes Kanter Freedom^	Portland Trail Blazers	April 10, 2021	Detroit Pistons	118-103	37	24	Yes	No

See also

• NBA regular season records
• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 30 or more rebounds in a game
•   Basketball portal

Notes

1. A player is not eligible for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame until he has been fully retired for three calendar years.

External links

• Top single-game rebounders (35-plus) from nbahoopsonline.com