A potential future Hall-of-Famer himself, Lakers big man Anthony Davis is joining prestigious company along with Chicago Bulls great Michael Jordan.
Although his rebounding ability usually isn’t the first part of his game that comes to mind, the Chicago Bulls all-time great shooting guard Michael Jordan was still a standout in that area. He averaged more than six rebounds per game during his career in the regular season, and even more than that in the playoffs per game for his career.
In five of his individual playoff runs during his NBA career, Jordan averaged at least seven rebounds per game. He also averaged a flat eight rebounds per game during the 1988-89 regular season, which was also one of his most efficient all-around of his career.
However, there are a few players in the modern NBA that are standing out in a similar regard with the combination of scoring and rebounding that MJ brought to the table back in the day with the Bulls. Two particular modern superstars that standout in this regard are point forward LeBron James and big man Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The @Lakers Anthony Davis recorded his 29th career game with at least 40 points and 10 rebounds last night, tying Larry Bird and Karl Malone for the third-most such games since the ABA-NBA merger.
— Justin Kubatko (@jkubatko) August 4, 2020
The two players ahead of Davis are Shaquille O'Neal (43) and Michael Jordan (33). pic.twitter.com/zarwpRnC3U
With a recent performance for AD in a Lakers win over the Utah Jazz on Aug. 3, he continued to encroach MJ on a key all-time list in terms of scoring and rebounding. For the 29th time in his NBA career, Davis posted at least 40 points and 10 boards in a single game. That now places him third on this list, since he is tied with the Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird and former Jazz dominant big man Karl Malone.
The only two players that remain ahead of AD on that list of players with individual games since the NBA-ABA merger that have more are MJ (33) and former Lakers and Orlando Magic legendary center Shaquille O’Neal (43). There’s a good margin there between Shaq and the rest of the field, but it’s impressive nonetheless that a shooting guard has that many.
Given that MJ averaged more than 30 points per game for his career both in the playoffs and the regular season, it’s not surprising that he has an abundance of games with more than 40 points. Shaq was also a dominant force that frequently posted at least 20 points and 10 boards (more often than not in the prime of his career).
The Lakers were able to clinch the top seed for the playoffs in the Western Conference with their Monday night win in primetime over the Jazz. They are one of the true NBA Championship contenders in the bubble this year along with the likes of the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Clippers, and Toronto Raptors, among others.