bung knee
Years ago

Friday Trivia: Lowest number never used in NBA

What is the lowest number never worn by an NBA player?

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DJ Rod  
Years ago

0 or 00

?

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Isaac  
Years ago

Never worn by...

Nice question BTW.

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COOPZ  
Years ago

29?

im sure i'm wrong, its probably alot higher i think, but from memory i got up to 29 before getting stumped.

DJROD:
Gilbert Arenas is 0
Robert Parish was 00??? (I think)


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Melvin Corpuscle  
Years ago

From Basketball reference ... lowest number NOT worn, is 57 !!
29 was worn by 24 players :

Charlie Black Fort Wayne Pistons (49)
Jim Browne Denver Nuggets (50)
Calbert Cheaney Denver Nuggets (01, 02)
Archie Dees St. Louis Hawks (62)
Connie Dierking Philadelphia 76ers (64)
Pervis Ellison Boston Celtics (95, 96, 97, 98, 00)
Seattle Supersonics (01)
Hank Finkel Boston Celtics (70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75)
Joe Graboski St. Louis Hawks (62)
Kleggie Hermsen Baltimore Bullets (48)
Sonny Hertzberg Washington Capitols (49)
Phil Jordon St. Louis Hawks (63)
Bones McKinney Washington Capitols (51)
Leo Mogus Fort Wayne Pistons (49)
Dave Newmark Atlanta Hawks (70)
Bud Olsen Boston Celtics (69)
Chick Reiser Washington Capitols (50)
Alan Sawyer Washington Capitols (51)
Paul Silas St. Louis Hawks (65, 66, 67, 68)
Atlanta Hawks (69)
Phoenix Suns (70, 71, 72)
Jack Toomay Denver Nuggets (50)
Lou Tsioropoulos Boston Celtics (57)
Alando Tucker Phoenix Suns (08, 09)
Floyd Volker Denver Nuggets (50)
Slavko Vranes Portland Trail Blazers (04)
Mike Wilks Atlanta Hawks (03)
Minnesota Timberwolves (03)
Houston Rockets (04)
Cleveland Cavaliers (06)
Seattle Supersonics (06, 07, 08)
Denver Nuggets (08)
Washington Wizards (08)

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Isaac  
Years ago

Another 00 was Delk, and Ostertag?

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Isaac  
Years ago

Have just seen Melvin's post. Hey, Coopz, at least you were close... ;)

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Melvin Corpuscle  
Years ago

Further, the only numbers not worn in the NBA :
57 - 59, 63-4, 69 (REALLY ?!), 72, 74-5, 78-83, 85-7, 92, 94-5, 97 ...

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COOPZ  
Years ago

yeh, like i said, i was sure it would be higher. i was guessing in the high 40's.

but 24 players have worn 29!!! I didn't expect that.

Out of all of them, i really only remember Calbert Cheaney.

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Sturty6ers  
Years ago

100 has never been worn....

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hustle  
Years ago

I could have sworn Dennis Rodman wore 82 in his disaster of a comeback with the Lakers (for a few games) before going to Dallas....would have been early 2000s....

Anybody know for sure?

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l  
Years ago

lowest number never worn is actually 01

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Mantis  
Years ago

Ostertag was 00, and Olden Polynice was another who wore 0. Because "00" and "0" are signalled by a ref the same way (as just "0"), only one of these numbers can be worn by teammates, so when Polynice joined the Jazz, one of them had to change his number. Polynice was the "senior" player so he got to keep his "0", Ostertag switched to 39 until Polynice inadvertently retired, opting out of the final year of his contract in an attempt to get more money but eliciting, uh, "zero" interest from any NBA team, Jazz included.

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DJ Rod  
Years ago

mucho respecto!

it pays to read the post in full and with both eyes...

I thought it looked too simple

I thought Rodman DID wear #82

he normally like to wear numbers that added up to 10

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Melvin Corpuscle  
Years ago

rodman wore 10 for detroit and spurs, 91 for bulls, 73 for lakers and 70 for mavs ...

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Anonymous  
Years ago

duckworth another 00

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3  
Years ago

From what I understand, in the NBA, any number over #55 has to be approved by the league office.

Here's some reasons for the numbers Dennis Rodman has worn (which come from the man himself in his three books and interviews I've read):

#10 - He wore this number in college at SE Oklahoma State, and carried it over to the NBA with Detroit and San Antonio. He chose to keep it in the NBA as a bit of a carryover from college, as well as there being (in his words) "nothing better than a perfect 10".

#91 - When unable to wear #10 in Chicago (as it was the retired number of 60s/70s Bulls player Bob Love), he chose #91 not only because 9+1=10, but because 9 and 1 are the first two numbers dialled in an emergency (as in 9-1-1).

#73 - He wore #73 with the Lakers as another variation on #10 (7+3). He was considering #69 at this point, but assumed he'd be denied by the NBA due to the obvious sexual connotations.

#70 - He wore #70 with Dallas to go (again, in his words) "one better than 69".

And for those interested, here's a link to a list of players who have worn #00 in the NBA:
http://linky.com.au/10jhz

And #0:
http://linky.com.au/i0llx

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bulls4eva  
Years ago

how can you only remember calber chaney? alando tucker is currently wearing it for the suns who are on tv every second day here it seems

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bung knee  
Years ago

in theory it's 01, but yes it is 57. Francisco Elson is the last person i remember who wore 56.

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jazz  
Years ago

Hang on, wouldn't it be number 69 as the lowest number 'never' worn since it would be denied by the NBL for obvious reasons. has anyone ever worn this number?

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