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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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Chris Webber
Chris Webber (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

Greatest NBA Player to wear each jersey number: 84, Chris Webber

As you may already know, Chris Webber wore the number four for virtually his entire career (including college). What some of you may not know, for 43 games, he wore the number 84 as a member of the Detroit Pistons because the franchise had already retired the number 4 in honor of Joe Dumars. Legend has it that he chose number 84 because his nephew dreamt he made a buzzer-beater wearing that number.

Just days after agreeing to a buy-out with the Philadelphia 76ers midway through the 2006-07 season and clearing waivers, he would agree to a contract with the Pistons for the rest of the season. Though they played in Auburn Hills when he signed with the Pistons, it was a homecoming of sorts for Webber, being that he was born in Detroit and played high school and collegiate basketball in Michigan. By the time he started playing for his hometown team, injuries had already taken their toll, and he was longer able to produce at the level that made him a five-time All-NBA player.

Still, he made the most of his time with Detroit. He scored at least 15 points in 15 games and at least 20 points in four of those games, opposed to scoring at least 15 points just four times and eclipsing the 20-point threshold just once, in his final 18 games with the Sixers.

By this time, Webber had already lost most of his athleticism and mobility but managed to be an integral piece for the Pistons, helping them reach the Eastern Conference Finals (they would go on to lose to the Cleveland Cavaliers, led by LeBron James) highlighted by his stellar Game 5 performance in which he scored 20 points and grabbed 7 rebounds while shooting 69.2 percent from the floor.

Honorable Mention: Ron Baker

Greatest NBA Player to wear each jersey number: 83, Craig Smith

Craig Smith was drafted in the second round of the 2006 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves after starring at Boston College for four years, where he averaged 18.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, and graduated as the all-time leader in field goals made as well as rebounds, and second all-time in points scored.

It wasn’t until 2012 (his final season in the NBA) when he joined the Portland Trail Blazers that he would wear the number 83 on his jersey. Like many others on this list, his best days were behind him, but he made the list due to the lack of players wearing the same number. In this particular case, Smith is the only player in league history to put the number 83 on his back.