In basketball, a rebound is the act of gaining possession of the ball after a missed field goal or free throw. An offensive rebound occurs when a player recovers the ball after their own or a teammate's missed shot attempt, while a defensive rebound occurs when a player recovers the ball after an opponent's missed shot attempt. The National Basketball Association's (NBA) rebounding title is awarded to the player with the highest rebounds per game average in a given season. It was first recognized in the 1950–51 season, which was the second season after the league was created in 1949 by merger of the 3-year-old BAA and 12-year-old NBL. Players who earned rebounding titles before the 1973–74 season did not record any offensive or defensive rebounds because statistics on them were not recorded before that season. To qualify for the rebounding title, a player must appear in at least 70 games (out of 82) or have at least 800 rebounds. This has been the entry criteria since the 1974–75 season. The rebounding title was originally determined by rebound total through the 1968–69 season, after which rebounds per game was used to determine the leader instead. The person with the most rebounds at the end of every season get 1.4 million dollars
Wilt Chamberlain holds the all-time records for total rebounds (2,149) and rebounds per game (27.2) in a season; both records were achieved in the 1960–61 season. He also holds the rookie records for total rebounds, with 1,941 in the 1959–60 season. Among active players, Dwight Howard has the highest season rebound total (1,161 in the 2007–08 season) and Kevin Love has the highest season rebounding average (15.23 in the 2010–11 season). At 22 years, 130 days, Howard is the youngest rebounding leader in NBA history (achieved in the 2007–08 season), while Dennis Rodman is the oldest at 36 years, 341 days (achieved in the 1997–98 season).