Josh Hart’s eye-popping rebounding numbers continue historic pace
NY Post
On a night when the opposing coach compared his acumen on the boards to Dennis Rodman’s, Josh Hart moved ever closer toward joining an elite category of rebounders in NBA history.
Hart’s 18 rebounds in another triple-double performance in Saturday’s win over the Kings gave him an eye-opening average of 9.8 per game in 45 appearances this season.
With 36 games remaining, beginning with Monday’s home matchup against the Grizzlies, the 6-foot-4 Hart has a legitimate chance to become only the fourth guard in NBA history to record at least 10 rebounds per game in one season, according to StatMuse.
Tom Gola accomplished the feat in three consecutive years for the Philadelphia Warriors from 1957-60. Oscar Robertson also did it in three straight seasons for the Cincinnati Royals from 1960-63. And Russell Westbrook grabbed at least 10 per game four times — three for the Thunder from 2016-19 and again for the Wizards in 2020-21.
The 29-year-old Hart has averaged 12.7 rebounds over 13 January games, and he easily will join that company if he continues at a similar clip the rest of the way.
“I just try to go get the basketball,” Hart said following his sixth triple-double of the season, the fifth most in the league. “Sometimes, unfortunately, I steal rebounds from my guys. I don’t try to.
This was near the end of a magnificent American life, and he’d been battling lung and prostate cancer for some time, but Pee Wee Reese was absolutely going to get in the car and make the drive from Louisville to Kansas City. The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum was honoring his dear friend Jackie Robinson, and Reese knew that meant seeing so many friends from the old days.
The pity is, at this point, the greatness we are watching in real time is threatened every week to be reduced to a footnote. We are witnesses to history, to the rarest form of extended success in a time of professional sport that’s supposed to be ruled by parity. But every year we have to deal with something else first.