Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon is entering the fifth year of his NBA career and is somehow only now figuring out the nuances of his position after Wednesday night's 104-101 win over the Miami Heat. Gordon put up a team-high 26 points and 16 rebounds, then proceeded to shine light on a recent revelation he had.
“It's taken me awhile to figure out that you actually have to box out in this league, which seems silly,” said Gordon, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “I always thought you could just jump and get the rebound.”
Gordon's 16 rebounds surpassed his season high from 2017-18, having grabbed 15 rebounds in two occasions last season.
This, of course, comes at the heels of Gordon signing a four-year, $84 million extension of his rookie deal with the Magic this summer, and he's now equipped with the knowledge required to take his game to another level.
Though, Gordon's earlier ignorance speaks to the lack of fundamentals of today's incoming players, given their superior athletic abilities. Gordon, a runner-up in the Slam Dunk Contest in 2016, only hauled in a career-high 7.9 rebounds per game last season — something that will need improvement as at the main frontcourt option in Orlando.
Plenty of not-so-athletic big men have been able to haul in double-digit rebounds during their careers, including the likes of Zach Randolph, Nikola Jokic and Enes Kanter — all fundamentally sound and great at boxing out opponents by using their body.
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