The number 23 in basketball grew relevant because Michael Jordan donned it throughout his career with the Chicago Bulls. The number is now so revered that the game’s best players wear it. For example, LeBron James donned the number 23 for quite some time with the Cavaliers and the Lakers. However, he switched to 6 when he played for Miami Heat and later on with the Lakers.
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There have been only two instances where Michael Jordan wore a different jersey number other than 23 in his career. He wore the number 45 after coming back from retirement in 1995. This was because he wore the same jersey number during his stint at baseball with Birmingham Barons, a Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. Furthermore, Jordan also said that the number 45 was his favorite during his time at high school.
While Jordan is synonymous with the number 23, there was a time when he had to relinquish wearing the jersey. This was well before he retired in 1990. The No. 23 jersey was stolen during a match against Orlando Magic. At that time, Chicago only had a nameless 12 jersey as a spare. Jordan wore the number 12 just for one day. However, the Bulls lost to the Magic 135-129.
Michael Jordan’s jersey iconic number 23 jersey was once stolen on Valentine’s Day!
Valentine’s Day, 1990, will forever be memorable for Bulls fans. It was the first time they saw Michael Jordan wear the number 12 instead of his usual number 23. The famous quote, “Michael Jordan is wearing number 12 tonight,” might still be fresh for some Bulls fans. To explain this, the Chicago Bulls faced a strange but minor controversy right ahead of their game against the Magic. Jordan’s jersey was stolen right before the game.
There was a search amongst the crowd in Orlando for a replica jersey that would fit MJ’s 6’6″ frame. Despite those efforts, in the end, the Bulls had to settle for the number 12 jersey. It was a nameless jersey, which the Bulls carried with them for worst-case scenarios like these.
In the video clip below from the game, you can hear the pre-game warmup public address, which announces,
“Please note that, for the Bulls, Michael Jordan is wearing number 12 tonight.”
Michael Jordan registered a game-high 49 points that night. However, the Bulls fell short to Magic’s Terry Catledge, who gave them a 34-point lead. The Magic clutched the game from the Bulls 135-129 in a win that night.
It is believed that Jordan is quite superstitious when it comes to his jersey. After this theft, it seemed like a big deal for MJ, and he was left aghast by this incident. As the Sports Illustrated reports, Michael Jordan said after the game, “That has never happened to me before. It’s pretty irritating because you’re accustomed to certain things and you don’t like things misplaced.”
Did the Bulls retrieve the jersey after this incident?
Surprisingly, this incident is one of the biggest mysteries in NBA history. It is still not known who stole the jersey or why they did so. However, a SI report says the jersey was allegedly found on the ceiling tiles of Orlando Magic’s visiting locker room. However, a Bulls spokesperson recalls that the team never retrieved the jersey.
It is believed that the jersey might have been stolen between the shootaround on the day of the game and the tipoff. Nobody knows the identity of the thief who had stolen the jersey. This mystery continues to baffle everyone to this day.
