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.
Our search for the best five position players at each pro basketball number continues. In this search, we are trying to find the best two Forwards that wore Number 3 in the history of NBA, ABA, and BAA. Here is a list of frontcourt men that wore the number 3 for at least five seasons:
NBA Forward Candidates (Jersey #3)
Craig Ehlo was a Guard/Forward donning the number 3 on the Houston Rockets (1984-86), Cleveland Cavaliers (1987-93), Atlanta Hawks (1994-96), and Seattle SuperSonics (1997) for 11 Pro Basketball seasons as he scored 7492 career points, helped out with 2456 assists, found the ball for 3139 rebounds, blocked 232 opposing teams’ shots, averaged232 points/game for his career.
Dale Ellis dribbled the hardcourts as both a Guard and Forward with this jersey identification number for the Seattle SuperSonics (1987-91), Milwaukee Bucks (1991-92), San Antonio Spurs (1993-94), and the Denver Nuggets (1995-97) for 9 seasons as he drained 19004 points, handed out 1746 assists, grabbed 4201 rebounds, and blocked 183 opponent’s shots averaged183 points per game for his career.
Fred Carter was a Guard/Forward identified by jersey number 3 on the Baltimore Bullets (1970-72), Philadelphia 76ers (1972-77), and the Milwaukee Bucks (1977) for 8 seasons as he scored 9271 points, dished out 2122 assists, crashed the boards for 2381 in career rebounds, blocked 65 opposing shots and averaged15.2 points every game for his career.”
Devean George played the Guard and Forward positions wearing the digits on the Los Angeles Lakers (2000-06) for seven seasons as he registered 3536 points, passed for 543 assists, hauled down 1975 rebounds, batted away 230 shots as he averaged points per game for his career.
Sasha Pavlović played the position of Guard and Forward wearing the number on the Cleveland Cavaliers (2005-09) and the Portland Trail Blazers (2013) for five seasons as he scored 2787 points, dished out 517 assists, crashed the boards for 1000 rebounds, blocked 98 shots and averaged points per contest played for his career.
Gerald Wallace played the Forward position with this jersey number 3 for the Sacramento Kings (2002-04), Charlotte Bobcats (2005-11), and the Portland Trail Blazers (2011-12) for ten seasons as he registered 9933 points, passed for 1725 assists, hauled down 4838 rebounds, swatted away 681 shots averaged 11.9 points each for his career.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim was a Forward donning the number 3 on the Vancouver Grizzlies (1997-2001), Atlanta Hawks (2002-04), and the Sacramento Kings (2006-08) for 9 Pro Basketball seasons as he scored 15028 career points, helped out with 2109 assists, found the ball for 6239 rebounds, blocked 638 opposing teams’ shots, averaging 638 points/game for his career.
Al Harrington dribbled the hardcourts as a Forward with this jersey identification number for the Indiana Pacers (2000-04), Atlanta Hawks (2005-06), Golden State Warriors (2007-09), and Orlando Magic (2013) for eight seasons as he drained 13237 points, handed out 1649 assists, grabbed 5482 rebounds, and blocked 246 opponent’s shots averaged 246 points per game for his career.
Dennis Scott was a Forward identified by the jersey number on the Orlando Magic (1991-97), Minnesota Timberwolves (1999), and the New York Knicks (1999) for seven seasons as he scored 8094 points, dished out 1296 assists, crashed the boards for 1774 r in career rebounds, blocked 197 opposing shots and averaged 12.9 points every game for his career.”
Donyell Marshall played the F position wearing the digits on the Golden State Warriors (1995-00) for six seasons as he registered 10716 points, passed for 1305 assists, hauled down 6376 rebounds, batted away 848 shots as averaging 11.2 points per game for his career.
Bryon Russell played the position of F, wearing the number 3 on the Utah Jazz (1997-02) for six seasons as he scored 6663 points, dished out 1085 assists, crashed the boards for 2914 rebounds, and blocked 203 shots for his career.
Caron Butler played the position of Forward wearing the number on the Washington Wizards (2006-10) and Milwaukee Bucks (2014) for five seasons as he scored 12430 points, dished out 2007 assists, crashed the boards for 4387 rebounds, smacked down 216 opponent’s shots and averaging 14.1 points a game for his career.
Monty Williams lined up at Forward wearing the number on the San Antonio Spurs (1996-98), Denver Nuggets (1999), and the Orlando Magic (2000-02) for five years as he provided career 2884 points, created 544 assists, fought for 1296 rebounds, blocked 137 shots, and averaged points per game for his career.
OG Anunoby played the Forward position with this jersey number for the Toronto Raptors (2018-22) for five seasons as he registered 2631 points, passed for 347 assists, hauled down 1066 rebounds, swatted away 122 shots, averaged 11.3 points each 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.
Eddie Johnson was a Forward and Guard identified by jersey number 3 on the Atlanta Hawks (1978-86) and Cleveland Cavaliers (1986) for nine seasons as he scored 19202 points, dished out 2550 assists, and crashed the boards for 4832 in his career rebounds, blocked 180 opposing shots and averaged16 points every game for his career.
Jared Dudley played the Forward and Guard positions wearing the digit three on the Phoenix Suns (2009-13, and 2017-18) for seven seasons as he registered 6633 points, passed for 1394 assists, hauled down 2849 rebounds, batted away 167 shots as he averaged points per game for his career.