Greatest NBA Player to wear each jersey number: 10, Walt Frazier
Walt “Clyde” Frazier is infamous for his extravagant suits and for his rhymes and puns as a color commentator for the New York Knicks. Before his broadcasting days, Clyde was an elite point guard in the NBA.
Drafted with the fifth overall pick by the New York Knicks in the 1967 NBA Draft, Frazier played 13 seasons in the NBA. He was a stout defender and spectacular playmaker, and efficient scorer.
He spent his first 10 seasons with the Knicks and was named to seven All-Defensive teams, six All-NBA teams, and was selected to seven consecutive All-Star teams during his time in New York.
Along with Willis Reed, he led the Knicks to three NBA Finals appearances in four years, winning the franchise’s only two championships in 1970 and 1973. With Reed out with a leg injury, Frazier had a masterful performance in game seven of the 1970 Finals. He played a team-high 44 minutes and scored 36 points, dished out 19 dimes, and pulled down seven boards while shooting 70 percent from the field and going 12-12 from the free-throw line.
The Knicks traded Frazier to the Cleveland Cavaliers following the 1977 season and spent the next two-plus seasons there before abruptly retiring from the NBA in the middle of the 1979-80 season.
The Knicks retired his number 10 jersey in 1979, and in 1987 he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Honorable Mention: Nate Archibald
Greatest NBA Player to wear each jersey number: 9, Bob Pettit
Bob Pettit was drafted out of LSU with the second overall pick by the Milwaukee Hawks in the 1954 NBA Draft. He averaged 20.4 points and 13.8 rebounds en route to winning the 1959 Rookie of the Year award and being selected to his first of 11 consecutive All-Star games.
The NBA introduced the league MVP at the end of the 1956 season, and Pettit would be the first player to win the award. Three years later, he became the first-ever multi-time winner. He was also the first NBA player to score more than 20,000 points. He and the next person on this list are the only two people to be voted MVP of the All-Star game four times.
Pettit played 11 seasons in the NBA and was an All-Star selection as well as an ALL-NBA selection every year of his career. He led the Hawks to four Finals appearances (all against the Boston Celtics), losing all but one. In 1958 he recorded 50 points and 19 rebounds in a game six victory over the Celtics, winning the Hawks its only NBA championship in franchise history.
He never averaged less than 20.4 points in a season and retired with career averages of 26.4 points, 16.2 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game. The Bombardier from Baton Rouge still holds the record for most free throws and most rebounds in a Hawks uniform, as well as the franchise record for most points scored in a single season.
He played for the Hawks and wore the number nine his entire NBA career, and it was retired by the franchise in his retirement. Pettit retired in 1965 and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971.
Honorable Mention: Tony Parker