Two of our headliners, Tyson Chandler and Dirk Nowitzki, overlapped in their tenure with the Mavericks winning the 2011 NBA Finals.
The Dallas Mavericks were established in 1980-81. Even with their relatively short history, they have seen some impressive rebounding statistics from players on their team. Let’s highlight the top five single-season rebounds per game averages in their franchise history.
James Donaldson, 1986-87, 11.9 Rebounds Per Game
Donaldson was traded from the Clippers to the Mavericks during the 1985-86 season. He then played all 82 games the next season, logging 37 minutes per game. That helped him average 10.8 points, 11.9 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. That was the highest rebounds per game average of his career. The following season he averaged 9.3 rebounds per game and made his lone career All-Star team. Across 484 regular season games with the Mavericks, Donaldson averaged 8.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks.
Roy Tarpley, 1987-88, 11.8 Rebounds Per Game
The Mavericks selected Tarpley with the seventh pick in the 1986 Draft. After averaging just 19 minutes per game as a rookie, he averaged 29 minutes per game in 1987-88. However, he only started nine of his 81 games. He still averaged 13.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks, which helped him win the Sixth Man of the Year award. Following his rookie season, Tarpley averaged at least 11.0 rebounds per game for four straight seasons. He spent his entire career with the Mavericks, appearing in 280 regular season games. In those games, he averaged 10.0 rebounds.
Tyson Chandler, 2014-15, 11.5 Rebounds Per Game
Chandler bounced around the NBA, playing four eight franchises during his career. He spent one season with the Mavericks in 2010-11 before playing the next three seasons with the Knicks. In his first stint with the Mavericks, he won the NBA title. He returned to the Mavericks in 2014-15, averaging 10.3 points and 11.5 rebounds over 75 games. Chandler then joined the Suns before finishing up his career with stints on the Lakers and Rockets. Across 149 regular season games with the Mavericks, Chandler averaged 10.4 rebounds.
Popeye Jones, 1994-95, 10.6 Rebounds Per Game
Jones spent the first three seasons of his career with the Mavericks. He had one of the best seasons of his career in 1994-95, averaging 10.3 points and 10.6 rebounds over 80 games. Following his three seasons with the Mavericks, he played for the Raptors, Celtics, Nuggets and Wizards before returning to the Mavericks for the 2002-03 season. Across 255 regular season games with the Mavericks, Jones averaged 8.8 rebounds.
Dirk Nowitzki, 2001-02, 9.9 Rebounds Per Game
Nowitzki spent his entire 21-season career with the Mavericks. He made 14 All-Star Teams, was named the 2006-07 regular season MVP and won one championship during his career. His best rebounding season came in 2001-02 when he averaged 9.9 rebounds per game. At one point, he had a stretch of nine straight seasons in which he averaged at least 8.4 rebounds per game. For his entire career, he averaged 7.5 rebounds per game. Nowitzki was elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023.
