NBA Countdown: Which player wore every number best in history?
What began as a fun way to while away the final two months of the NBA offseason — counting down from 55 to 00 in a series of debates about who wore each jersey best — somehow morphed into a full-blown annotated history of the league. Now that we are here, hours before the 2019-20 season commences, we are left with a time capsule of everything that has happened up to this point, complete with tales of everything from World War II heroics and civil rights activism to cocaine, firearms and that time an ABA All-Star vanished off the face of the Earth. It is up to the 500 players currently under contract to add to that history.
Click on each number for a full breakdown of the players who wore it best, including shoutouts, caveats, challengers, the best player wearing it today and the jersey champion. Thank you for following along and enjoy opening night. Let the games begin.
55: Dikembe Mutombo
54: Horace Grant
53: Artis Gilmore
52: Jamaal Wilkes
51: Reggie King
50: David Robinson
49: Shandon Anderson
48: Nazr Mohammed
47: Andrei Kirilenko
46: Aron Baynes
45: Rudy Tomjanovich
44: Jerry West
43: Jack Sikma
42: Connie Hawkins
41: Dirk Nowitzki
40: Shawn Kemp
39: Caldwell Jones
38: Kwame Brown
37: Metta World Peace
36: Rasheed Wallace
35: Kevin Durant
34: Hakeem Olajuwon
33: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
32: Magic Johnson
31: Reggie Miller
30: Stephen Curry
29: Paul Silas
28: Frank Selvy
27: Jack Twyman
26: Kyle Korver
25: Gail Goodrich
24: Rick Barry
23: Michael Jordan
22: Elgin Baylor
21: Tim Duncan
20: Gary Payton
19: Willis Reed
18: Dave Cowens
17: John Havlicek
16: Bob Lanier
15: Tommy Heinsohn
14: Oscar Robertson
13: Wilt Chamberlain
12: John Stockton
11: Isiah Thomas
10: Walt Frazier
9: Bob Pettit
8: Kobe Bryant
7: Carmelo Anthony
6: Bill Russell
5: Kevin Garnett
4: Dolph Schayes
3: Allen Iverson
2: Kawhi Leonard
1: Tracy McGrady
00: Robert Parish
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Ben Rohrbach is a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
