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 third of eight people to wear the No. 55 jersey, Hall of Fame big man alum Dikembe Mutombo. After ending his college career at Georgetown, Mutombo was picked up with the fourth overall selection of the 1990 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets.
The Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo native played the first five seasons of his pro career with Denver. He also played for the Atlanta Hawks, and Philadelphia 76ers before he was dealt to the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets in 2002. His stay with the team lasted until he was cut in 2003.
During his time suiting up for the Nets, Mutombo wore only jersey No. 55 and put up 5.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game.
All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Brooklyn Nets jersey history No. 55 – Dikembe Mutombo (2002-03)
Reporting by Justin Quinn, Nets Wire / Nets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
