When it comes to Michael Jordan, it was No. 23 that he loved the most throughout his career. During the 1994-95 season, he did wear No.45 for 23 games when he made his NBA comeback after a short minor league baseball career. Apart from this instance, there was also a time when Jordan donned No.12 for a single Regular Season game. Before the game against the Orlando Magic on February 14, 1990, the Guard lost his jersey which had No. 23. However, the Bulls’ management had forgotten to bring a backup jersey with No. 23.
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Someone had stolen his jersey on game day, therefore, Bulls management was desperate for a No. 23 replacement. They even tried out jerseys from the crowd but none of them fit Jordan. After all the efforts, they had to bring out a No. 12 jersey which they kept as a “backup” for such situations. But the jersey change didn’t impact how Jordan performed. The Elite Guard put up 49 points, making 21 out of 43 shots. However, he couldn’t lift his Bulls over the Magic as they won 135-129 in Overtime.
OTD in NBA History FEB. 14, 1990: 34 years ago today, Michael Jordan wore a nameless No. 12 jersey after his No. 23 uniform was stolen* before a game in Orlando. It was his only game as a Bull wearing a number other than 23 or 45 https://t.co/hOmgfUp9Jv
— Ronen Seliger (@nensta3) February 15, 2024
After the Overtime loss, Jordan was perturbed that his go-to-jersey number was missing. He lamented, “That has never happened to me before. It’s pretty irritating because you’re accustomed to certain things, and you don’t like your things misplaced.”
The Guard loved his No. 23 which he has been wearing since his high school days. Having a jersey with a different number was unpleasant for the guard. Then why did he give up No. 23 during the 1995-96 season when it was available?
Michael Jordan switched from 23 to 45 and then back to 23 again
After calling quits on a short-lived minor league baseball career, when Michael Jordan returned to the NBA at the tail-end of the 1994-95 season, he wore No.45. His reasons were sentimental and attached to his father who died in 1993. In his 1998 autobiography For the Love of the Game, Jordan revealed, “When I came back, I didn’t want to play in the last number that my father had seen me wear. Because he wasn’t around, I thought of my return as a new beginning.”
However, after wearing No.45 during the 1994-95 Regular Season and much of the Postseason, Jordan switched back to No. 23 during the Eastern Conference Finals. This change was triggered by Magic Guard Nick Anderson who had trash-talked Jordan after stealing the ball and finishing against Jordan in Game 1. This move sealed the deal for the Magic and a pumped-up Anderson expressed, “No. 45 doesn’t explode like No. 23 used to. No. 45 is not No. 23. I couldn’t have done that to No. 23.”
These words had a lasting impact on Jordan who came back with his No. 23 during Game 2. Fittingly, after playing 23 games with No.45, he was back to his favorite jersey number. Donning No. 23, he dropped 38 points against Anderson and his Magic to propel the Bulls to a 104-94 win. While the Bulls eventually lost the series, Anderson had ignited Jordan’s urge to return to his championship ways, with #23 acting as the symbol of his resilience.
