Anthony Davis leads the 2026-27 preseason in rebounding at 9.7 a game

Anthony Davis finished the 2026-27 preseason as the NBA’s leading rebounder, pulling down 9.7 boards a game across three appearances for the Washington Wizards in only 22 minutes a night. For a team that will lean on its new frontcourt from the opener on Wednesday, it was the clearest early sign that the 33-year-old is still a force on the glass.

Davis grabbed 29 rebounds in all. He had seven with 16 points in a 111-109 win at the Knicks on Thursday, October 8, then put up back-to-back double-doubles: 10 points and 11 rebounds in a 114-108 overtime win over the Pistons at home on Saturday, October 10, and 14 points and 11 rebounds in the 107-106 loss at New Orleans in Friday’s finale. He scored 13.3 points a game and blocked five shots in the three games.

The preseason rebounding top 10

The list counts every preseason game on the WhyNBA scoreboard: 67 games across all 30 teams, from Saturday, October 3 through Friday, October 16. A player needs at least three appearances to qualify. RPG is rebounds per game, Total is every rebound across the preseason, and MPG is minutes per game.

Reed’s 17 and the rest of the board

The biggest single night belonged to Tarris Reed Jr.. The Spurs big man collected 17 rebounds in 24 minutes of a 119-109 loss at Utah on Monday, October 12, the only game of 16 or more by anyone this preseason, and he finished with 47 total rebounds, the most of any player. He did it while scoring only 4.4 points a game, which tells you exactly what San Antonio asked of him.

Three players tied for the next-best game at 15: Khaman Maluach with 10 points in a 102-98 Suns win over the Spurs on October 10, Karl-Anthony Towns in the Knicks’ 122-120 win over Toronto on Thursday, October 15, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, whose 20 points and 15 rebounds powered Miami past Brooklyn 144-128 on October 14. Towns averaged 7.3 rebounds over four games and Antetokounmpo 7.7 over three, just outside the top 10.

The young centers stand out. Maluach, Queen, Missi and Clingan are all in their first three seasons, and two Pelicans made the list, with Derik Queen also handing out 2.2 assists a night. Jalen Johnson got his 8.7 a night with help from 20 points and 14 rebounds in Atlanta’s 135-111 win at Dallas on Friday.

Preseason minutes were short and uneven, so per-game numbers flatter players who saw extended run in blowouts. Davis did his work in a starter’s role, which makes his number the one most likely to carry into October 21.

What comes next

Davis and the Wizards open the regular season against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, October 21 at 7 p.m. ET (Game Center). The full numbers live on the league leaders and player stats pages, which switch to regular-season totals once the games count.