Nikola Jokić surpasses Russell Westbrook in career rebounds

Nikola Jokić extended his lead over Russell Westbrook in one more NBA career category after Denver’s win over the Phoenix Suns, this time moving past Westbrook in total regular-season rebounds.

In the victory, Jokić recorded seven rebounds and missed adding another triple-double only because of that rebound total, yet those seven boards were enough to push his career regular-season rebound total to 9,026 — one more than Russell Westbrook, who ended his playing career this summer.

Where he stands among all-time rebounders

Jokić remains far from the top ten on the NBA all-time regular-season rebounds list. Wilt Chamberlain is the clear leader with 23,924 rebounds, followed by Bill Russell with 21,620 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 17,440. At tenth sits Dwight Howard with 14,627.

Currently Jokić sits in 67th place on that list; Westbrook is one spot behind him. Ahead of Jokić are players such as Jonas Valančiūnas (9,052 rebounds) and Elton Brand, who finished his career about ten years ago with 9,040 rebounds — both reachable targets if Jokić keeps adding boards.

This milestone follows a recent streak of Jokic achievements: he first overtook Westbrook atop the all-time triple-doubles list in Denver’s win over the New Orleans Pelicans, and then — again against the Pelicans — became only the second player in NBA history to reach 200 regular-season triple-doubles. Westbrook remains first on that list, but Jokić needs nine more triple-doubles to claim the top spot.

The two players were briefly teammates in the 2024–25 season, but Westbrook never captured an NBA title before retiring, a career remembered primarily for its individual accolades.

Photo: press material from the event