Apparently OKC wanted Waiters to change the number on his jersey
As many of you avid NBA viewers know, earlier this week, Cavaliers 2-guard Dion Waiters was traded to Oklahoma City Thunder as part of a three-team trade to provide the Thunder with a little more scoring off the bench. The combo scoring guard has donned the number 3 ever since he came into the league, but after being traded to OKC he wasn’t so lucky in getting his old number back.
According to an interview with the Oklahoman, Dion Waiters wanted the number 3 and 1, but the organization didn’t have those numbers. He later went on to say:
Then 13, they didn’t want me to wear 13. 23, I didn’t want to wear 23. My favorite number is 3. They just gave me 23
According to the organization, giving Dion Waiters the same number as former player and All-Star guard James Harden would intentionally imply that the organization brought him in solely to provide the same scoring effort as Harden. When Dion was asked what he thought about the whole situation and if he remembers the last person to wear 13, he had this to say:
So they didn’t want me to wear 13. Guess they wanted me to have my own identity. We gonna make 23 look good though.
Drew feels that this trade to OKC will be the perfect atmosphere for Dion Waiters to flourish in and contribute. Talk sports and why OKC will be the best in the west after All-Star break with Drew on twitter @AndrewSomuah