“Sent my favorite team into rebuild” – Rockets fans recall HORROR MEMORIES of LeBron James in #23 jersey ENDING franchise’s NBA title window

LeBron James has changed his jersey number several times in his 20-year NBA journey. The four-time champion and all-time scoring leader wore 23 when he debuted with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003 as the No. 1 draft pick. He switched to number six when he joined the Miami Heat in 2010 and won two titles there.

James went back to 23 when he returned to Cleveland in 2014 and delivered the city its first championship in 2016. He kept 23 when he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018 and won his fourth ring in 2020. But he decided to go back to number six again in 2021, giving 23 to his new teammate Anthony Davis. Now, he is changing his number once more, but not for personal reasons.

As the NBA announced the retirement of the number 6 jersey from the game in honor of Bill Russell, an activist as well as a former Boston Celtics legend, James had the option to leave the jersey behind or keep wearing it. He chose to do the former as he changed to the number 23 “out of respect for Bill Russell,” according to his agent Rich Paul.

Russell, who won 11 championships with the Celtics, became the first player to have his number retired league-wide. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged Russell’s extraordinary accomplishments on the court and his trailblazing efforts in civil rights activism, stating that they deserve a “distinctive and historic tribute“.

In a statement, Silver expressed, “Permanently retiring his No. 6 across every NBA team ensures that Bill’s transcendent career will always be recognized.” As part of this season’s celebrations, all NBA players will wear a special Russell patch on the right shoulder of their jerseys, and a clover-shaped logo with the number six will be displayed on every NBA court near the scorer’s table, as per the league.

Related: “Attention seeking diva” – LeBron James announces he’s NOT RETIRING, NBA Twitter ROLLS ITS EYES

LeBron James’ cold-blooded shot that broke the Rockets and made them rebuild

LeBron sure has some sweet memories with his #23 jersey, and one of his most precious memories was this game against the Houston Rockets. He made a shot, paused, turned around, and didn’t even give a reaction after the shot. As twitteratis would like to call it, it is one of the “coldest” moments of modern NBA history. Houston was shell-shocked, and their reactions told the whole story. Per the tweet, they were forced to “rebuild” because of this beautiful shot.

Last year though, when the NBA announced it, LeBron told ESPN, “For me to be able to wear No. 6 this season — I’m not sure if I’ll continue to do it, but right now, I’m going to wear it in honor of him. It means a lot to me.” 

It was not logistically possible for him to change his jersey then, but now he had the chance, and he did. As James approaches the end days of his career, will it be his last jersey switch before hanging up his sneakers, or are the fans up for one more twist?

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