The Brooklyn Nets have 52 jersey numbers worn by over 600 different players over the course of their history since the franchise was founded in 1967 as a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA), when the team was known as the “New Jersey Americans”.
Since then, that league has been absorbed by the NBA with the team that would later become the New York Nets and New Jersey Nets before settling on the name by which they are known today, bringing their rich player and jersey history with them to the league of today.
To commemorate the players who played for the Nets over the decades wearing those 52 different jersey numbers, Nets Wire is covering the entire history of the franchise’s jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team.
And for today’s article, we will continue with the first of 13 people to wear the No. 45 jersey, big man alum Bob Christian. After ending his college career at Grambling State University, Christian was picked up with the 109th overall selection (there were many more rounds in that era of the draft) of the 1968 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks.
The Gladewater, Texas native played the first season of his pro career with the ABA’s (defunct) Dallas Chaparrals and (then) New York Americans (now, Brooklyn Nets) instead, leaving the latter to join the Hawks in 1970.
During his time suiting up for the Nets, Christian wore only jersey No. 45 and put up 2.0 points and as many rebounds per game.
All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Brooklyn Nets jersey history No. 45 – Bob Christian (1969)
Reporting by Justin Quinn, Nets Wire / Nets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
