After a less than successful season, the Denver Nuggets are trying to improve their squad. They signed veteran guard Russell Westbrook to increase the ball-holding ability of their reserves, as well as to take the load off Jamal Murray when needed.
At his new team, Russell Westbrook will wear the number 4 jersey. This is a rather unfamiliar number for Westbrook, as he mostly wore the number 0 jersey for most of his NBA career. The only brief time Russell Westbrook wore the number 4 jersey in the NBA was when he played for the Washington Wizards in the 2020/21 season.
Why isn’t Russell Westbrook wearing number 0 for the Denver Nuggets?
At Denver Nuggets, jersey number 0 is already owned by Christian Braun. This player said he has no intention of giving up the number to Russell Westbrook.
Therefore, Russell Westbrook decided to choose the number 4 jersey when playing for Denver Nuggets in the 2024/25 season. This jersey originally belonged to Hunter Tyson, but this player was just a long-term reserve, and he voluntarily gave up the number 4 to his new teammate. Hunter Tyson will switch to the number 5 jersey next season.
Russell Westbrook himself said that he never asked Christian Braun to give up his jersey number. “Leave him (Braun) alone. He and I have never talked about giving up the number 0 jersey. I don’t want to ask or request this because Braun is an important player, and I want to mark this change with a new jersey number,” Westbrook shared.
As for the number 4 jersey, Russell Westbrook said this is the number he wore when he was playing in high school.
“This is a rare time in my career that I can wear my original number again. When I played for UCLA, Arron Afflalo wore it. When I joined the Oklahoma City Thunder, number 4 belonged to Nick Collison. When I moved to the Houston Rockets, I still chose number 0 because it was familiar.
So, I don’t have many opportunities to go back to my original number. Number 4 is my favorite number, it reminds me of my roots and where I started playing basketball,” said Russell Westbrook.
Translated from AS article.
Russell Westbrook’s Jersey History
| Stage | Team | Shirt number |
| 2008-2019 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 0 |
| 2019-2020 | Houston Rockets | 0 |
| 2020-2021 | Washington Wizards | 4 |
| 2021-2023 | Los Angeles Lakers | 0 |
| 2023-2024 | Los Angeles Clippers | 0 |
| 2024-present | Denver Nuggets | 4 |
SEE ALSO: When does the 2024/25 NBA season start? New season opening game schedule
