The newly-acquired Russell Westbrook won’t wear No. 0 with the Washington Wizards, as he’s done in his entire NBA career with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets.
There was a lot of speculation that he might not end up with that number because the last player to wear it in Washington was Gilbert Arenas.
But Arenas actually gave his blessing to Westbrook to wear No. 0 in an Instagram comment (see below). So it wasn’t due to Westbrook knowing how much Wizards fans loved Arenas.
Instead, he’s chosen No. 4. The reason? It was his high school number and one he wanted all along, per ESPN’s Royce Young:
This was always Westbrook’s preferred number. He wore it in high school, but it was taken at UCLA and taken in OKC. https://t.co/CnmaVfisKL
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) December 4, 2020
I was right… pic.twitter.com/uKmN10Vsyg
— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) December 4, 2020
Russ with the reminder, No. 4 isn’t new to him pic.twitter.com/sLXD8i13za
— prince grimes (@pgprincej) December 4, 2020
At UCLA Arron Aflalo wore No. 4, so Westbrook took No. 0. In Oklahoma City, Nick Collison had it. When Westbrook arrived in Houston, Danuel House Jr. owned it.
So there you have it. Agent Zero lives on, and Westbrook finally gets No. 4.
