Day'Ron Sharpe found himself on the outside looking in when the Brooklyn Nets established their rotation early this season. Much was made of Brooklyn's decision to bench the second-year big man, a move that left the team with a glaring hole behind breakout center Nic Claxton.

Following the trades of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, as well as a 10-day experiment with veteran center Nerlens Noel, Sharpe battled his way back into the new-look Nets' rotation. The North Carolina product has impressed over his last nine appearances, averaging 7.0 points and 5.8 rebounds on 64.1 percent shooting in just 13.2 minutes per game. Sharpe's 9.4 offensive rebounds per 36 minutes during that span leads the NBA.

The recent stretch has pushed the 2021 first-round pick into historic company. Sharpe is on pace to post the highest offensive-rebounding rate among players to play at least 500 minutes in a season in NBA history (stat courtesy of ESPN's Zach Lowe). The 21-year-old is rebounding 21.4 percent of Brooklyn's misses when on the floor this season.

Here are the NBA's top 10 in offensive rebounding (minimum 500 minutes) this season:

  1. Day'Ron Sharpe: 21.4%
  2. Steven Adams: 20.1%
  3. Andre Drummond: 18.4%
  4. Paul Reed: 18.0%
  5. Mitchell Robinson: 17.8%
  6. Clint Capela: 16.4%
  7. Kevon Looney: 15.5%
  8. Charles Bassey: 15.5%
  9. Jalen Duren: 14.9%
  10. Walker Kessler: 14.9%

Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn had high praise for Day'Ron Sharpe's off-court approach during his sophomore campaign:

“Being a professional,” Vaughn replied Friday when asked where Sharpe has taken the biggest step. “Sometimes it takes a year, two years, three years, I’ve seen it take four years with guys where they understand that it is not just the time they spend when they are in front of coaches. There's more to this job than that.”

It's the work you do by yourself. It’s the work you do with your primary coach that is trying to help you get better, it’s the work that you do away from the gym. Watching games, personnel, seeing the speed of the game, knowing who you are going to guard that night. So, there’s a professionalism that goes with it. He’s taken a step and he’s being rewarded for it.”

Sharpe echoed his head coach's sentiment during a recent road trip when detailing what sparked his resurgence:

“JV is always preaching habits and being more professional, things off the court especially,” Sharpe said. “Watching film after the game, just getting what you need. Even though I’m young, still getting what you need and doing what you have to do to get ready for the game.”

At 6'9″, 265 lbs, Sharpe's strength on the boards could come in handy against MVP-frontrunner Joel Embiid with the Nets likely to meet the Sixers in the first round of the playoffs.