THE Oklahoma City Thunder (and the Seattle Supersonics before them) have 51 jersey numbers The jersey numbers have been worn by players who have worn 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 fifth jersey number in the series, jersey #3, with 20 players in total having worn this jersey in the history of the franchise.
The fifth of those 20 players to wear No. 3 did so during the Supersonics era, and that was combo guard Alphonso Ford. A native of Greenwood, Mississippi, Ford played at Mississippi Valley State University and was selected with the 32nd overall pick in the 1993 NBA draft by the The Philadelphia 76ers.
He was released by the Sixers before he could even play for them, however, and instead signed two 10-day contracts with the Supersonics in 1994 to make his NBA debut. He was not signed by the team after those contracts, making his stay in Seattle short-lived – only 6 games.
During that cup of coffee with the Sonics, Ford averaged 2.7 points per game, his anemic contributions likely being a major factor in his brief tenure with Seattle – all in the No. 3 jersey, of course.
This article was originally published on Celtics Wire: Thunder #3 Jersey History – Alphonso Ford (1993-94)