Hoops Habit
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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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Taj Gibson
Taj Gibson #67 (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

Greatest NBA Player to wear each jersey number: 67, Taj Gibson

For the first eight years of his NBA career, Taj Gibson wore the number 22, the same number he wore for three years while hooping at the University of Southern California. After joining the Minnesota Timberwolves as a free agent during the 2017 offseason, Gibson elected to wear the number 67 in honor of his elementary school P.S. 67, an homage to Brooklyn roots, and he’s been wearing the number ever since. This was also partly because his new teammate, Andrew Wiggins, was already wearing that number.

In his first season with the Timberwolves, Gibson had the best statistical production of his career since the 2013-14 season. For the first time in his career, he was an everyday starter and averaged 12.2 points, 7.1 rebounds (most since his rookie season), and 1.2 assists in 33.2 minutes per game (career-high). Most impressive was his improved efficiency that season; he posted career-highs in field goal percentage (57.7) and free throw percentage (76.8).

In the three following seasons, he’s seen a steep decrease in his role and minutes, which in turn affected his production. But despite this reduction, in his three-plus years donning the number 67, Gibson has averaged 9.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists per game while playing the most efficient basketball of his career, shooting nearly 60 percent from the floor and over 75 percent from the charity stripe.

Honorable Mention: Moe Becker

Greatest NBA Player to wear each jersey number: 66, Andrew Bogut

Andrew Bogut became just the fifth player in league history to wear the number 66 when he joined the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent in 2017. The former number one overall draft pick joined the Lakers after 12 years in the NBA and a myriad of injuries at age 33.

He made a name for himself in the league as a skilled interior scorer, elite screener, above-average playmaker for his size, and an intelligent defender/rim protector.

Coming off a season where he played just one minute with the Cleveland Cavaliers before suffering a leg fracture, Bogut was a shell of himself when he joined the Lakers. His loss of mobility led to frequent foul trouble. It limited his minutes as it hindered his ability to stay on the floor since he was now a defensive liability and unable to positively impact the game the way he did in previous years with the Golden State Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks. He only played more than nine minutes in nine games, and after just 24 games played with the franchise, the Lakers waived Bogut 38 games into the season.

Honorable Mention: Grady Lewis