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 will start with the players that wore 0 or 00. Okay, they are two different numbers; to reduce confusion, we will count them the same for this exercise. Let’s look at the candidates that meet our qualifying criteria for each position to aid you in making a decision. We will cover each position in the next five days for 0 and 00 and then ask you to vote. Up today will be the players that qualify at Power Forward.
Power Forward Candidates (Jersey # 0 and 00)
Kevin Love: played the positions of C and PF on the Cleveland Cavaliers (2015-22) for eight seasons as he scored 13563 points, dished out 1801 assists, grabbed 8287 rebounds, and blocked 330 shots. Dan Neumann, co-host of the Sports History Network podcast Hello Old Sports, adds, “In 2010. Love was the first player to tally 30 points and 30 rebounds in a game since 1982. He started with Minnesota but joined Lebron in Cleveland to power the Cavs to their first-ever NBA Championship in 2016.”
Spencer Hawes: played the positions of C, and PF on the Philadelphia 76ers (2011-14), Charlotte Hornets (2016-17), and Milwaukee Bucks (2017) for five seasons as he scored 5932 points, dished out 1271 assists, hauled in 3893 rebounds, and blocked 652 shots.
JaMychal Green: was a PF on the Memphis Grizzlies (2015-19) and Denver Nuggets (2021-22) for six seasons as he scored over 3567 points, dished out more than 408 assists, crashed the boards for over 2600 rebounds, and blocked more than 190 shots in his career and he is still trucking in the 2022-23 season adding to these totals.
Walter McCarty: played the positions of PF and SF on the Boston Celtics (1998 – 2005), Phoenix Suns (2005), and Los Angeles Clippers (2006) for eight seasons as he scored 3056 points, dished out 670 assists, brought down 1554 rebounds, and blocked 173 shots.
Darrell Arthur: manned the positions of PF and SF on the Memphis Grizzlies (2009-13) and Denver Nuggets (2014-18) for eight seasons as he scored 3282 points, dished out 409 assists, hauled in 1768 rebounds, and blocked 307 shots.
Aaron Gordon: played the position of PF and SF on the Orlando Magic (2015-21) for seven seasons as he scored 6182 points, dished out 1193 assists, crashed the boards for 3036 rebounds, and blocked 312 opponent’s shots.
Shawn Marion: played the position(s) of SF, PF on the Dallas Mavericks (2010-14) for five seasons as he scored 17700 points, dished out 2198 assists, brought down 10101 rebounds, and blocked 1233 shots.
Jayson Tatum: played the position(s) of SF, PF on the Boston Celtics (2018-22) for five seasons as he scored 6439 points, dished out 896 assists, brought down 2096 rebounds, and blocked 229 shots.
C.J. Miles: played the position(s) of SF, SG, and PG on the Cleveland Cavaliers (2013-14), Indiana Pacers (2015-17), and Toronto Raptors (20818-19) for five seasons as he scored 8108 points, dished out 914 assists, brought down 2011 rebounds, and blocked 254 shots.