NBA has no particular rule for players to pick jersey numbers. You might have seen players Russell Westbrook, Jayson Tatum, Kevin Love, and more wearing #0 to Jae Crowder wearing #99. However, no jersey is more famous than Michael Jordan’s and LeBron James’ ‘23’ and Kobe Bryant’s 24. But, why is LeBron’s number 6 these days?
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James, after wearing #23 for a long time (apart from his 4 years in Miami) has gone back to his #6 jersey from the Heat days last year. Why you ask? A chain of Tweets by “Kicks” might have the answer for you.
The reason why LeBron James switched back to #6 from MJ-inspired 23
Fans might have wondered why would James switch back to 6 from 23 after a successful 4-year run with the Cavaliers and then another good run in his first 3 seasons with the Lakers wearing the same number.
His switching back to #6 had something to do with it being a lucky number for him in his personal life than #23 being Anthony Davis’ preferred number. These Tweets might explain it to you.
LeBron James has worn the number 6 for six of his twenty remarkable NBA seasons.
James first made the switch to number 6 in 2010 because the Heat retired the number 23, but picking 6 was anything but random.
Here’s the significance behind the number: pic.twitter.com/pmljE0r9uw
— Kicks (@kicks) February 21, 2023
Some conspiracy theorists believe LBJ chose the number 6 for its association with the devil, but the real reason couldn’t be more opposite.
For starters, both his sons share a connection to that number. pic.twitter.com/GrBnX099Lz
— Kicks (@kicks) February 21, 2023
James won his first gold medal on the 2008 Olympics team years before he won his first NBA championship.
So it’s possible he wanted to channel some of that success into the next chapter of his career with the Miami Heat. pic.twitter.com/deXjasT22O
— Kicks (@kicks) February 21, 2023
James himself had some insights into it
When he first switched to #6, LeBron told his reasons, and it obviously had nothing to do with the Devil like that above-mentioned conspiracy theory. But it was precisely what the latter part of that Tweet suggested.
“It’s always been a part of me, to be honest,” James explained. “Six has a lot of meaning to me, from my family and numbers and things of that nature to what I believe in and things of that sort, but my mentality doesn’t change.”
So, there you have it. It had nothing to do with the Devil or the fact that MJ tried to undermine his 2020 championship success with The First Dance, or any other conspiracies around it for that matter.
