Russell Westbrook wore #0 on his jersey for two seasons at UCLA, 11 seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder and in his lone season with the Houston Rockets. When he makes his debut for the Washington Wizards — his third team in three years — he will do so with #4 on his uniform.
The Wizards announced Westbrook’s number change on Twitter on Thursday evening.
Russell Westbrook will wear4️⃣! pic.twitter.com/KVGbSfiOg6
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) December 4, 2020
On Wednesday, Westbrook and a first round pick were dealt from Houston to Washington in exchange for John Wall.
Westbrook will likely explain the specific reasoning for the change in the coming days, but it’s possible that wearing #0 in D.C. may never have been an option, despite the fact that nobody on the Wizards roster currently wears #0.
In fact, no Wizards player has worn #0 since Agent Zero himself, Gilbert Arenas, last wore it on Jan. 5, 2010. Of course, #0 is a rare number, so that isn’t particularly improbable.
However, as Chase Hughes of NBC Sports speculated, the franchise might have unofficially retired the number in Arenas’ honor.
“Regarding Russell Westbrook and the No. 0. Other players have come in and asked to wear it and have been told ‘no’ because it was Gilbert Arenas’ number. Those players, however, were not Russell Westbrook. So, we’ll see,” Hughes tweeted.
On the flip side, it’s possible the Wizards organization is trying to remain distanced from Arenas — a three-time All-NBA player — who tarnished his legacy with the infamous locker room gun incident and his behavior afterwards.
As The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnaroski pointed out, Westbrook wore #4 in high school before switching to #0 at UCLA, out of deference to Arron Afflalo.
For those wondering about Russell Westbrook wearing No. 4 with the Wizards, it was his jersey number in high school. He switched to No. 0 when he got to UCLA because his preferred No. 4 belonged to Arron Afflalo:https://t.co/0fglyBJDKD pic.twitter.com/pqMGMQvISU
— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) December 4, 2020
Russell Westbrook brings back his high school number: 4. https://t.co/jb1HgptAe3
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 4, 2020
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