Looking at sports history and reminiscing about legendary players from different eras is a fun pastime for most sports fans. These great players kindle fond memories. The attraction of the great ones to the fans may come in various avenues; their statistics, what they did in big moments, individual awards, or how they led their team to a title.
We connect to these players on so many levels, but a common thread is to remember them by jersey number. Babe Ruth’s number 3, Wayne Gretzky’s 99, Jordan’s 23, or a Walter Payton 34 jersey are all iconic and fun to remember.
SHN Project: Best Team By Jersey Number
Our Sports History Network team would like to solicit your help in putting a fun twist on your sports memories by kicking off an endeavor to field the best pro basketball teams by jersey number. That team should consist of a Point Guard (PG), Shooting Guard (SG), Center (C ), Small Forward (PF), and Strong Forward (SF).
If a player is listed as playing that position in their career, they become eligible to play it on our team. Additional criteria are that they had to play in the BAA, NBL, NBA, or ABA and wear the jersey number for at least a part of 5 different seasons. Our team of SHN experts will provide some information, personal preferences, and other tidbits about the players of each to help you make an informed decision in the poll we will provide. After the deadline is reached, we will post the results on JerseyDispatch.com.
The search to find the best five position players at each pro basketball number continues. In this time frame, we are trying to find the best two Centers that wore Number 3 in the history of NBA, ABA, and BAA. Here is a list of the guys in the paint that wore the number 3 for at least five seasons:
NBA Center Candidates (Jersey #3)
Ömer Aşık played the position of Center wearing the number on the Chicago Bulls (2011-12 and 2018), Houston Rockets (2013-14), and the New Orleans Pelicans (2015-18) for seven seasons as he scored 2479 points, dished out 280 assists, crashed the boards for 3362 rebounds, and blocked 339 shots for his career.
Elmore Smith played the position of Center wearing the number 3 on the Buffalo Braves (1972-73), Los Angeles Lakers (1974-75), Milwaukee Bucks (1976-77), and the Cleveland Cavaliers (1977-79) for six seasons as he scored 7541 points, dished out 808 assists, crashed the boards for 5962 rebounds, smacked down 1183 opponent’s shots and averaged 13.4 points a game for his career.
Tyson Chandler lined up at Center wearing the number 3 on the Chicago Bulls (2002-06) for five years as he provided career 9509 points, created 967 assists, fought for 10467 rebounds, and blocked 1335 shots for his career.
Clifford Robinson was both a Forward and Center, donning the number 3 on the Portland Trail Blazers (1990-97) and the Golden State Warriors (2004-05) for 9 Pro Basketball seasons as he scored 19591 career points, helped out with 3094 assists, found the ball for 6306 rebounds, blocked 1390 opposing teams’ shots, averaged1390 points/game for his career.
Ben Wallace dribbled the hardcourts as a Forward/Center with this jersey identification number for the Detroit Pistons (2001-06) and the Chicago Bulls (2007-08) for seven seasons as he drained 6254 points, handed out 1437 assists, grabbed 10482 rebounds, and blocked 2137 opponent’s shots averaged2137 points per game for his career.