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.
In this segment, we have the guards that wore Number 2. Here is a look at the candidates that meet our qualifying criteria for each position ( 5 years with the Number in the NBA, ABA, and/or BAA) to aid you in deciding to vote in our poll.
NBA Guard Candidates (Jersey #2)
Joe Ingles was a Forward and Guard wearing the jersey digit 2 on the Utah Jazz (2015-22) for eight years so far as he provided 5040 points, created 2176 assists, fought for 1888 rebounds, and blocked 90 shots as of February 1, 2023.
Junior Bridgeman lined up at Forward and Guard wearing the number on the Milwaukee Bucks (1076, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 87), and Los Angeles Clippers (1985-86) for 11 years as he provided 11517 points, created 2066 assists, fought for 2995 rebounds, and blocked 220 shots.
Mickaël Piétrus played the Guard and Forward positions with this jersey number 2 for the Golden State Warriors (2004-08) for five seasons as he registered 4629 points, passed for 445 assists, hauled down 1723 rebounds, and swatted away 230 shots.
Mitch Richmond was a Guard donning the number 2 on the Sacramento Kings (1992-98)
And Washington Wizards (1999-2001) for nine Pro Basketball seasons as he scored 20497 points, helped out with 3398 assists, found the ball for 3801 rebounds, and blocked 254 opposing teams’ shots.
Stacey Augmon dribbled the hardcourts as a Forward and Guard with this jersey identification number 2 on the Atlanta Hawks (1992-96), Detroit Pistons (1997), Portland Trail Blazers (1997-2001), Charlotte Hornets (2002), New Orleans Hornets (2003-04), and Orlando Magic (2005-06) for 11 seasons as he drained 7990 points, handed out 1561 assists, grabbed 3216 rebounds, and blocked 317 opponent’s shots.
Joe Johnson was a Guard and Forward identified by the jersey number 2 on the Phoenix Suns (2002-05), Atlanta Hawks (2006-12), and the Miami Heat (2016) for ten seasons as he scored 20405 points, dished out 5001 assists, crashed the boards for 5059 rebounds, and blocked 260 shots.
DeShawn Stevenson played the Guard position wearing the digits on the Utah Jazz (2001-04), Orlando Magic (2004), and the Washington Wizards (2007-10) for seven seasons as he registered 5930 points, passed for 1355 assists, hauled down 1832 rebounds, and swatted away 134 shots.
Wesley Matthews played the position of Guard wearing the number on the Portland Trail Blazers (2011-15) for five seasons as he scored 10682 points, dished out 1751 assists, crashed the boards for 2504 rebounds, and blocked 173 shots.
Thabo Sefolosha played the position of Guard and Forward wearing the number on the Chicago Bulls (2007-09), Oklahoma City Thunder (2009-13) for seven seasons as he scored 4994 points, dished out 1196 assists, crashed the boards for 3252 rebounds, and blocked 366 shots.
Keith Askins played the positions of Guard and Forward wearing the number 2 on the Miami Heat (1991-99) for nine seasons as he scored 1852 points, dished out 375 assists, crashed the boards for 1428 rebounds, and blocked 170 shots.
Steve Blake was a Guard wearing the jersey digits on the Washington Wizards (2004-05), Portland Trail Blazers (2006 and 2008-10), and the Los Angeles Clippers (2010) for five years as he provided 5662 points, created 3446 assists, fought for 1816 rebounds, and blocked 63 shots.
Derek Fisher lined up at Guard wearing the number on the Los Angeles Lakers (1997-04 and again 2008-12) and the Utah Jazz (2007) for 13 years as he provided 10713 points, created 3804 assists, fought for 2658 rebounds, and blocked 98 shots.
Norm Van Lier played the Guard position with this jersey number 2 for the Chicago Bulls (1972-78) for seven seasons as he registered 8770 points, passed for 5217 assists, hauled down 3596 rebounds, and swatted away 71 shots.
Jason Kidd was a Guard donning the number on the Dallas Mavericks (2008-12) for 5 Pro Basketball seasons as he scored 17529 points, helped out with 12091 assists, found the ball for 8725 rebounds, and blocked 450 opposing teams’ shots in his career.
Raymond Felton dribbled the hardcourts as a Guard with this jersey identification number 2 with the New York Knicks (2011, 13, 14), Dallas Mavericks (2015, 16), Los Angeles Clippers (2017), and the Oklahoma City Thunder (2018,-19) for five seasons as he drained 10853 points, handed out 5096 assists, grabbed 2867 rebounds, and blocked 207 opponent’s shots during his career.
Eric Bledsoe was a Guard identified by the jersey number on the Phoenix Suns (2014-18) for five seasons as he scored 10090 points, dished out 3427 assists, crashed the boards for 2866 rebounds, and blocked 336 shots.
John Wall played the Guard position wearing the digits on the Washington Wizards (2011-19) for nine seasons as he registered 11702 points, passed for 5557 assists, hauled down 2612 rebounds, and swatted away 427 shots.
Rory Sparrow played the position of Guard wearing the number on the Atlanta Hawks (1982-83), New York Knicks (1983-88), Chicago Bulls (1988 and 1992), Miami Heat (1989-90), Sacramento Kings (1991), and the Los Angeles Lakers (1992) for nine seasons as he scored 7557 points, dished out 4192 assists, crashed the boards for 1755 rebounds, and blocked 103 shots.
Kyrie Irving played the position of Guard wearing the number on the Cleveland Cavaliers (2012-17) for six seasons as he scored 13293 points, dished out 3336 assists, crashed the boards for 2212 rebounds, and blocked 224 shots.