No NBA player has ever worn the number 69, which is said to be implicitly prohibited owing to its sexual overtones; however, the NBA has never acknowledged this. Dennis Rodman apparently sought the number 69 when he joined the Dallas Mavericks, but it was denied, so he wore 70 instead. When he later signed with the Chicago Bulls, they offered him 69, but he refused it.
The only other person to have ever worn 69 in the NBA was John Salley, who played for the Detroit Pistons and Seattle SuperSonics between 1994 and 1999. He wore 69 because it was one of his mother's phone numbers.
There were two players who previously wore 69 in major American sports leagues: Dave "Deacon" Evans and John Zinkin. Both of them played for the New York Yankees in the 1950s. Evans wore 69 during his first season with the team, while Zinkin replaced him as a pitcher and also wore 69 during his short career with the club. The number was given to both players by the Yankees' management as a sign of respect. Neither of them had any connection to the music industry or even attended music college, so there was no reason for the team to give them such a popular number.
Evans died in 1958 at the age of 36. No cause of death was reported by the team.
69 is one of 20 NBA/ABA uniform numbers that have never been worn. (Also, Rochester issued the numbers 03, 07, and 09 to separate players in the 1950s, but no other club has ever allocated those numbers, so I'm not going to consider the other six identical options.) The only reason 69 is significant is because it's how much David Robinson made in his first season with the San Antonio Spurs.
Robinson, who was drafted first overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in 1995, had a contract offer from them on the table when he decided to join the newly formed San Antonio Spurs instead. The Trail Blazers wanted to keep him under contract for $3 million over four years, but Robinson wanted to test the free agent market and signed with San Antonio for just over $12 million over five years. He ended up being the best player in the league that year and went on to win the MVP award as well as three championships with the Spurs.
The number 69 originally belonged to Harvey Pollack, who played two seasons with the Providence Steamrollers/Rochester Royals, from 1946-48. After his death, the team retired his number and it has not been used since then.
There are currently nine players on the NBA roster who wear number 69. It is an option given to players when they sign with a new team and there is space available on the roster.
Rodman, Dennis If there's one thing you should know about Dennis Rodman, both as an NBA player and as a person, it's that he's not afraid to do things his own way. He attempted to do so when he signed with the Dallas Mavericks, wanting jersey number 69. David Stern and the NBA, on the other hand, had different plans. They made sure he didn't get away with it by banning him from wearing the number.
The number has been worn only five times in NBA history. Four of them were by Rodman. The first time was during the 1989-90 season when he played for the Chicago Bulls. The number was given to him by Michael Jordan who wanted him to wear it because it was his high school number. When Rodman moved to Detroit for the 1995-96 season, he took number with him. In 1997, he was traded to San Antonio where he continued to wear number 69. After two seasons with the Spurs, he left to play in China where he still plays today.
He's come back several times since then, including last year when the Mavericks hired him again. This time around, he brought with him his own personal security team, which included a bodyguard and a personal assistant. The team's owner at the time, Donald Sterling, didn't like this and tried to prevent Rodman from wearing number 69. However, his attempts were once again stopped by David Stern who banned him from doing so.
Doncic is by far the most gifted player to ever wear the number 77 in the NBA. It may appear strange for an NBA player to be wearing such an unusual number, but Doncic can make anything look nice on the floor. Why is Luka Doncic ranked 77th? Luka Doncic has dominated the NBA in only his second season as a player.
Jason Kapono is the only player in NBA history to have worn the number 72. He's just been wearing it for a year.
Although certain numbers have never been worn in the NBA, these are the finest NBA players to wear them. Our sole requirement was that obviously deserving players not be crammed onto this list if they only wore a specific number briefly.
Jason Kidd was the ultimate point guard during his playing days, a lockdown defender with exceptional court vision, and he cemented his place as the finest NBA player to wear the number 5 on the back of his jersey.
Smith, the 36th overall choice in the 2006 NBA draft, is the only player in league history to wear the number 83. Smith wore the number in 47 games for Portland during the 2011-12 season.
Moses Malone was a fantastic player who wore two jerseys, but he also wore a few additional numbers. There was no disagreement here. Allen Iverson was a standout in the NBA. Not to mention the realm of motor racing, which gave us Dale Earnhardt.
Number 0 of 100: The Best Player to Wear Every Jersey When you think of the importance of numbers in professional sports, you probably think of the statistical patterns that decide an MLB team's batting order against a specific pitcher, or the number behind the answer to a specific piece of sports trivia.
Wade has famously worn the No. 3 jersey throughout his NBA career, but point guard Isaiah Thomas was assigned the number when he was dealt to the Cavs earlier this summer. Dwyane Wade will wear No. 9 for the Cavaliers, the same number he wore in the Olympics in 2008 and 2012. Cedi Osman, a CLE rook, will select a new number.
Wade's wife and daughter also wear No. 3.
Wade announced his retirement on April 11, 2019. He had been playing with the Cavs then decided to return after all. This season will be his 16th in the NBA and second with the Cavs. He originally signed with Miami in 2006 and stayed there until 2016, when he joined the Cubs. In between, he played one season (2009-10) with Boston before joining Cleveland. He won two Olympic gold medals with USA Basketball and is the reigning Kia MVP Award winner.
In other news, it was reported that Thomas called Wade "a bum" after the trade went down. The two were teammates on the Celtics last year when Thomas was sidelined by injury. Thomas is expected to serve as the backup point guard behind Kyrie Irving this season.
Wade has three years and $47.5 million remaining on his contract with the Cavs.
He recently bought a house in southern Florida near where he grew up.
Wade is considered one of the best shooters in NBA history.
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