It appears that Russell Westbrook changed his jersey number from the one he originally desired.

The 35-year-old Westbrook, who signed a two-year, $6.77 million contract with the Denver Nuggets this offseason, was hoping to play with the number he had worn for the majority of his NBA career. Sadly, Westbrook was unable to use that jersey since it had already been stolen.

According to Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports, Westbrook tried to convince Christian Braun to give him his No. 0 jersey, but the third-year guard turned him down. Hunter Tyson, a second-year player, was then persuaded by Westbrook to go from the No. 4 to the No. 5 position. Westbrook wasn’t charged by Tyson for the switch.

For every season of his career but one, Westbrook has worn the number zero. He

wore it while playing with the Oklahoma City Thunder from 2008–09, his debut season, till the 2018–19 campaign. After that, he wore it with the Houston Rockets for the 2019–20 season. In 2020–21, he spent a year with the Washington Wizards, at which point he switched to No.

4. After going back to No. 0 with the Los Angeles Lakers from 2021 to 2023, he carried the number over to the Los Angeles Clippers for the remainder of the 2022–2023 season and the 2023–2024 campaign. While attending UCLA, the nine-time All-Star also wore No. 0.

Although it will be odd to see Westbrook wear a different jersey than his iconic No. 0, Braun deserves praise for defending his right to keep his uniform.