In any sport, league athletes wear numbered jerseys. The National Basketball Association (NBA) is no exception to that rule. One excellent example is the number 23, which should make you think about the iconic Chicago Bulls player Michael Jordan. With that in mind, who are the NBA players that wear the number 4 jersey?
Many NBA players wear number 4 jerseys. Some examples include Russell Westbrook, Chris Bosh, and Charles Barkley.
The reasons for wearing this number can vary for each player or team in the league. In this article, you’ll find the best 5 players who wear or have worn the number 4 jersey (in no particular ranking or order).
Best NBA Players Wearing the Number 4 Jersey
1. Russell Westbrook
Russell Westbrook III, also called Russ, Beastbrook, and The Brodie by his fans and peers is the point guard for the Washington Wizards at the time of writing.
Westbrook played for the Oklahoma City Thunder for 11 seasons before switching to the Houston Rockets. He wore the number 0 jersey while he was with the OKC. Westbrook also wore the same number on his jersey when he transferred to the Houston Rockets.
Now that he’s with the Washington Wizards, The Brodie is now sporting the number 4 jersey. Although Westbrook’s best performance was when he was with the Oklahoma team, his skills as a point guard still shone with the Washington team while wearing the new number. He was even able to gain 45 points for guarding during the 2020 to 2021 season. Westbrook is also known for his superb triple-double skills, joining the likes of LeBron James.
2. Chris Bosh
Christopher ‘Chris’ Wesson Bosh is the 6’11” power forward for the Miami Heat. Bosh used to play for the Toronto Raptors for seven seasons from 2003 to 2010. But he soon changes from sporting the red dinosaur to wearing a flaming basketball on his jersey starting from the 2010 to 2011 season.
Miami Heat fans know Bosh to sport the number 1 jersey. However, many people know that he once sported the number 4 jersey during his time with the Miami Heat.
While he was wearing the number 4 jersey, Bosh was able to make some iconic highlights during that time. For instance, in the 2004 to 2005 season, he successfully guarded 81 times as the Raptors’ power forward. It was also Bosh’s highest number of guards achieved in one season.
However, Bosh’s NBA career had to stop abruptly because of a blood-clotting issue. Despite his efforts to combat the league’s ruling for the Heat player to stop, it ended with him retiring his number 1 jersey in March 2019.
3. Charles Barkley
Now a retired NBA player, Charles Barkley never left the professional basketball scene. Many people, including those in the league, know Barkley as either ‘Sir Charles’ or ‘the Round Mound of Rebound.’
During his 16-year professional NBA career as a player, this 6’6” athlete was the power forward of three teams, which are the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, and Houston Rockets. Barkley wore the number 34 jersey when he was with the 76ers. Then, he would wear the number 32 upon transferring to the Suns. Finally, Sir Charles wore the number 4 jersey while he was playing for the Rockets.
Barkley’s performance on the court caught the attention of many. His rebound game was superior to many players that he acquired a title-slash-nickname for it.
In 2000, Barkley retired from being a professional basketball player to becoming an NBA analyst. However, he walked off the league with an award for being the fourth NBA player in history to have 10,000 rebounds.
4. Danny Green
Currently, the player wearing the number 14 for the Philadelphia 76ers, Danny Green once wore the number 4 jersey for the San Antonio Spurs. It was also his most-used jersey throughout his professional basketball career.
Green was the shooting guard for the Spurs from 2010 to 2018. He wore the jersey for eight seasons before moving to the Toronto Rockets in 2018.
Still, his time with the Spurs was quite fruitful. In the 2011 to 2012 season, this shooting guard for the Spurs made 66 successful guards, earning him the title of the league leader in that category. Additionally, Green made 81 successful guards during the 2014 to 2015 season, although he wasn’t the league leader in this category for that period.
5. Jared Dudley
Now known as the power forward wearing the number 10 jersey for the Los Angeles Lakers, Jared Anthony Dudley started as a professional NBA player with the number 4 jersey.
Dudley’s first team was the Charlotte Bobcats. He started playing in the league in the 2007 to 2008 season as a power forward for the Bobcats.
This 6’7’’ player found himself playing for seven teams during his professional career, including the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers. But he found himself earning the league leader for guarding in the 2009 to 2010 season. It was this period when Dudley was with the Suns.
Final Words
Russell Westbrook, Chris Bosh, Danny Green, Jared Dudley, and Charles Barkley are five of the many players throughout NBA history who wears or have worn the number 4 jersey. Although the list of players in the professional basketball league who donned the number 4 jersey is quite long, the athletes listed in this article are some of the best in the industry.
