Former UConn Center Makes Viral Statement: 'I'm The Best Rebounder Ever'
As various NBA teams participated in media day on Monday, a handful of former UConn Huskies officially entered a new NBA season.
UConn currently has nine players in the league on either standard, two-way, or Exhibit 10 contracts. The longest-tenured of those players is 31-year-old center Andre Drummond, a two-time All-Star who left the Chicago Bulls over the summer for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Drummond signed a two-year, $10 million contract with Philadelphia in free agency.
On Monday while talking with reporters in Philadelphia, Drummond made a statement about himself that immediately caused shockwaves across social.
Drummond called himself no less than the greatest rebounder in the history of the sport.
"I'm the best rebounder to ever play the game," Drummond said. "You wanna record that? Yeah, I’m the best rebounder ever."
Drummond is undoubtedly one of the league’s greatest rebounders in recent memory. He’s averaged 12.4 boards per game in a career that has thus far spanned 864 regular season games.
Historically, Drummond is No. 33 all-time in total rebounds, with 10,671. He’s still way behind Wilt Chamberlain at No. 1 with 23,924 rebounds (Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are No. 2 and No. 3, respectively). Other enormous names in the top ten are Tim Duncan (No. 6) and Kevin Garnett (No. 9).
Drummond will have to move up that list to convince most people that his claim as the game’s greatest rebounder isn’t outrageous.
On the other hand, the fact that Drummond plays in the modern era helps his argument. There’s no doubt that guys like Chamberlain and Russell were going up against far inferior athletic competition. Some could point to Drummond’s dominance on the glass as more impressive because of the sort of talent he’s been up against in his career.
It’s an ongoing debate. One thing that Drummond showed on Monday is that he’s not short on confidence.
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-6cddf44b9a81eadb9d1a4c19c1b3db49.jpeg "Colin Keane")
Colin Keane is a contributing journalist for "UConn Huskies On SI." Born in Illinois, Colin grew up in Massachusetts as the third of four brothers. For his high school education, Colin attended St. Mark's School (Southborough, MA), where he played basketball and soccer and served as student body president. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Villanova University. Colin currently resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "UConn Huskies On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org