THE Oklahoma City Thunder (and the Seattle Supersonics before them) have 51 jersey numbers The jersey numbers have been worn by players who have suited up for the franchise since its founding at the start of the 1967-68 season. To commemorate the players who have worn these numbers, Thunder Wire traces the entire history of the jersey numbers and the players who have worn them since the team’s founding.
And while these Supersonics jerseys may not go down in franchise history if a new team is created in Seattle as was the case with the return of Charlotte HornetsThey are now part of Thunder history. For this article, we continue with the fourth jersey number in the series, jersey #2, with 10 players having worn this jersey number in the history of the franchise.
The second player to wear the number was none other than Gary Payton Sr., back when the glove was on the SuperSonics roster. The former Oregon State player was drafted by Seattle with the second overall pick in the 1990 NBA draft, and wore the same number as his pick during his first season in the league (1990-91), later switching to No. 20, a jersey number he continued to use for the rest of his career.
During his time in Seattle, GP made eight All-Star teams, nine All-NBA teams, won the 1996 Defensive Player of the Year award and averaged 18.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 2.1 steals per game.
This article was originally published on Celtics Wire: Thunder Jersey History #2 – Gary Payton (1990-91)
