GUIDES · BETSLIP DOCTOR
Is NBA contested rebound percentage a rate of contested chances won?
No. The glossary defines Contested REB% as Contested REB divided by REB. A rebound is marked contested when an opponent is within 3.5 feet of the rebounder. The formula's denominator is total rebounds, not contested rebound chances.
For Fans interpreting contested-rebound columns in NBA statistics. · Updated
What the contested label means
The NBA Stats Glossary defines a contested rebound using an opponent within 3.5 feet of the rebounder. It defines an uncontested rebound as one with no opponent within 3.5 feet.
That is a proximity rule in the glossary. It does not label an uncontested rebound as effortless or easy, and it does not describe the full physical difficulty of a play.
A fictional rebound ledger
Imagine a fictional player with five rebounds in a sample. Two rebounds have an opponent within 3.5 feet of the rebounder, and three have no opponent within that distance. The glossary definitions classify two as Contested REB and three as Uncontested REB. The Contested REB% formula is 2 divided by 5, which is 0.4 or 40% for this hypothetical sample. This is an illustrative calculation, not a real NBA player line. The ledger does not count every contested chance the player encountered. Because the denominator is REB, the example cannot be used to calculate a rate of contested chances won.
Related questions
Does Contested REB% measure how many contested chances a player wins?
No. The published formula divides Contested REB by REB. The glossary does not give contested chances faced as the denominator for this metric.
Does an uncontested rebound mean the player had an easy play?
The glossary's definition is only that no opponent was within 3.5 feet of the rebounder. It does not call the play easy or describe every aspect of its difficulty.