With height and weight being the most apparent factors necessary to achieve high rebound numbers on both sides of the ball, players with specific builds draw immediate expectations. Then, there are players with heart, like Kris Dunn and Patrick Beverley, who use quickness and technique to crash the glass.
Moreover, Ivica Zubac is a seven-foot, 240-pound center. Just based on this, he should be averaging around ten rebounds per game. Well, he is averaging 9.1 rebounds in his 470 games with the LA Clippers and has not posted a season with fewer than 7.5 points since 2018-19.
This means Zubac is effectively utilizing his size, as every time down the floor, whether on offense or defense, fans can use these averages to picture him hustling left and right in the paint for live balls.
On the contrary, his backup, Brook Lopez, is the polar opposite, and there was a worry with his rebound averages last season for the Milwaukee Bucks. But, when asked about it during training camp, Lopez opened up about how there is more to his glass cleaning than grabbing possession of the rock out of the air.
Brook Lopez explains to the media why his rebound averages should not be of any concern
In comparison, Brook Lopez is taller than Ivica Zubac and weighs more, yet over the last six seasons, the Croatian star has accumulated 1,062 more rebounds. This means Zubac possesses an elite skill on the glass, but also suggests a concerning issue in Lopez’s game.
It is also worth noting that in the last three seasons, Lopez has only missed nine games, whereas Zubac has missed 22. This difference of 13 is crucial, as despite all the absent nights, the 2025 All-Defensive big drastically outshines him in statistics.
In training camp, Lopez was questioned about his worrisome measures and concluded that his size made it easy for his teammates to box him out and grab loose balls. This implies that a consistent theme has occurred over his last nine seasons, as 2015-16 was the last time he recorded more than seven rebounds per game.
Brook Lopez on his teams being better with him on the floor rebounding-wise, despite his individual numbers not being great: “I’ve just always tried to clear the way for our team to go get the rebound. I’ve always been really focused on boxing out in my career ...” pic.twitter.com/eiiPTm8PSD
— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) October 3, 2025
Nonetheless, fans will have to give Lopez a solid foundation of 25 games to see if his stats really do not tell the whole story. Conversely, if there is a real issue in snagging the ball, then Lue could place high-flyers like John Collins next to him to resolve the issue.