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Greatest NBA Player to wear each jersey number 00-99

By Larry Hammonds

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant(L) and Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan(R) talk during a free-throw attempt during the fourth quarter 17 December at the United Center in Chicago. Bryant, who is 19 and bypassed college basketball to play in the NBA, scored a team-high 33 points off the bench, and Jordan scored a team-high 36 points. The Bulls defeated the Lakers 104-83. AFP PHOTO VINCENT LAFORET (Photo by VINCENT LAFORET / AFP) (Photo credit should read VINCENT LAFORET/AFP/Getty Images)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant(L) and Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan(R) talk during a free-throw attempt during the fourth quarter 17 December at the United Center in Chicago. Bryant, who is 19 and bypassed college basketball to play in the NBA, scored a team-high 33 points off the bench, and Jordan scored a team-high 36 points. The Bulls defeated the Lakers 104-83. AFP PHOTO VINCENT LAFORET (Photo by VINCENT LAFORET / AFP) (Photo credit should read VINCENT LAFORET/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Jason Kapono
Jason Kapono #72 of the Philadelphia 76ers (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

Greatest NBA Player to wear each jersey number: 72, Jason Kapono

Jason Kapono became the first and the only player to wear the number 72 when he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers prior to the 2009-10 season. A career 43.4 percent 3-point shooter, Kapono was never a real scoring threat inside the arc and wasn’t a serviceable defender either. He won an NBA championship, two three-point contests, and never shot less than 39.6 percent from behind the arc before joining the Sixers.

Somehow after his trade to Philly, Kapono forgot how to shoot. In his first season with the 76ers, his 3-point percentage dropped to a career-low (at the time) 36.8 percent, which would be league average in today’s NBA, so not too bad. But then the following season, things got worse; with his role and playing time significantly diminished, Kapono shot a career-worst 25 percent from the field and 12.5 percent from 3-point land on a career-low 0.8 attempts per game.

Even his free throw percentage took a hit while with the Sixers. His two seasons in the “City of Brotherly Love” were the only seasons of his career that he shot below 82 percent. After his stint either the Sixers, Kapono played one more season with the Los Angeles Lakers before retiring.

Greatest NBA Player to wear each jersey number: 71, Willie Naulls

Between 1962 and 1965, the NBA had only three players in history to wear the number 71, two of which played for the same franchise, the San Francisco Warriors. Though Willie Naulls played the least amount of games wearing number 71, he gets the nod for the greatest player to don the jersey number. He was a four-time All-Star and three-time NBA champion in the years surrounding his lone season wearing the number 71.

After the New York Knicks traded Naulls to the Warriors, he changed his jersey number from six to 71. He averaged 11 points and 6.7 rebounds in the short time he played in San Francisco. His tenure with the Warriors and the number 71 only lasted 47 games before moving on to play for the Boston Celtics and subsequently changing his number to 12 for the remainder of his career.

Naulls competed against Wilt Chamberlain as a member of the New York Knicks in the infamous 100 point game. He was also the first black athlete to be named team captain in all of the professional sports in the United States while with the Knicks. While playing with the Boston Celtics at the tail end of his career, he was a member of the first all-black starting lineup in NBA history and won three consecutive championships.

Honorable Mention: McCoy McLemore Jr.