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 Big guys in the middle get the love and respect here. These rulers of the paint each wore the jersey number 5 proudly in pro basketball. We can only pick one in the vote to take the floor as a starter.
Again we have some help from some big hitters. Boni Jose and Felix Alvarado of the hit podcast Full Court Press with Boni and Felix. These heavy hitters will give us the scoop on some very legendary players to help with the voting. Also, aspiring sportscaster Vinny Lospinusu chimes in with great props on a legend.
NBA Center Candidates (Jersey #5)
Kendrick Perkins lined up at Center wearing the number on the Oklahoma City Thunder (2011-15) and New Orleans Pelicans (2016) for five years as he provided career 4214 points, created 813 assists, fought for 4532 rebounds, and blocked 903 career shots.
Kevon Looney played the Forward and Center positions with this jersey number 5 for the Golden State Warriors (2017-22) for six seasons as he registered 1431 points, passed for 380 assists, hauled down 1369 rebounds, and swatted away 181 opponent’s shots in his career.
Danny Manning was a Power Forward and Center donning the number 5 on the Los Angeles Clippers (1990-94), Atlanta Hawks (1994), and Detroit Pistons (2003) for 5 Pro Basketball seasons as he scored 12367 career points, helped out with 2063 assists, found the ball for 4615 rebounds, and blocked 752 opposing teams’ shots for his career.
Kevin Garnett played the position of Forward and Center, wearing the number 5. Our friend, sports historian, Vincent Lospinuso adds this about KG, “Kevin Garnett was an all-time great when it came to power forwards and was exceptional coming out of high school. The Finals MVP and the GOAT of all Timberwolves. You can make a real case for him on Minnesota sports, Mr. Rushmore.” Boni and Felix have much respect for the big man as well when they say, ”Kevin Garnett a.k.a. The Big Ticket, played for 21 seasons (1995-96 to 2015-16) on three teams (Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics, and Brooklyn Nets) and averaged 17.8 points, ten rebounds and 3.7 assists in 1462 regular season games. The 15x All-Star was the Most Valuable Player in 2004, the Defensive Player of the Year in 2008, a 4x rebounding champion from 2004-2007, an NBA champion with the Boston Celtics (2008), and a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.
Gorgui Dieng played the position of Center wearing the number 5 on the Minnesota Timberwolves (2014-20) for seven seasons as he scored 4418 points, dished out 776 assists, crashed the boards for 3399 rebounds, and smacked down 532 opponent’s shots in his career.
Carlos Boozer played the Forward and Center positions wearing the digit five. The fellas from the Full Court Press Podcast share this, “Carlos Boozer a.k.a. Booz Cruise, played for 13 seasons (2002-03 to 2014-15) on four teams (Cleveland Cavaliers, Utah Jazz, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers) and averaged 16.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 2.2. assists in 861 regular season games. The 2x All-Star’s best game, in our opinion, was when he recorded a double-double against the Washington Wizards on March 26, 2007, finishing with 41 points and 16 rebounds with an efficient 71.4% from the field.”
Billy Paultz played the Center and Forward positions with this jersey number 5 for the New York Nets (71, 72, 73, 74, 75), San Antonio Spurs (76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 83), Houston Rockets (80, 81, 82, 83), Atlanta Hawks (84), and the Utah Jazz (85) for 12 seasons as he registered 13099 points, passed for 2206 assists, hauled down 8959 rebounds, swatted away 1457 shots averaged 11.7 points each for his career.
Special thanks to the Basketball-Reference.com website for help with the stats.