Now that it's confirmed LeBron James will mark his return to Cleveland by once again donning the number 23, Cavaliers fans and memorabilia collectors alike are surely in the process of placing their orders already.
Whether 23 - made famous of course by one Michael Jordan - should even be available to current players is a matter for another day (It shouldn't, and once James retires, the number should go with him), but today players like James, Anthony Davis, Draymond Green and Kevin Martin, among others, have the iconic number on their backs.
For purposes of nostalgia, here are a few other select players who once wore no. 23.
(You can check out the full list of NBA players who have ever worn 23 here)
Joe Bryant
Before Jordan ever stepped on the court wearing the number, and years before Bryant's son made nos. 8 and 24 famous, Jellybean Joe rocked the no. 23 for seven seasons in Philadelphia and then San Diego. He switched to the number 22 upon his move to Houston, where Calvin Murphy wore 23, and eventually moved on to Italy, but not before scoring over 4,000 NBA points wearing the no. 23 with the 76ers and Clippers.
Mitch Wiggins
That's right, another famous NBA father makes the list. Wiggins played the majority of his 389 career NBA games wearing no. 15, but he took the court for the 1991-92 season wearing no. 23 for the Sixers.
Mitch Richmond
A member of the NBA's elusive 20,000-point club and a soon-to-be-enshrined Pro Basketball Hall of Famer, Mitch Richmond entered the Association rocking the no. 23 for the Warriors after wearing it at Kansas State. He won the NBA's Rookie of the Year award in 1988-89 and wore 23 for three seasons with Golden State, eventually returning to the number for the final season of his career with the Lakers in 2001-02.
Ron Artest
Before becoming Metta World Peace, before his part in the infamous Malice At the Palace, and before wearing nos. 91, 93, 96, 37 and 51 (and after wearing no. 15), his name was Ron Artest, he was still doing things like this, and he briefly wore no. 23 for the Pacers during the prime of his career.
In a successful NBA career that has now spanned 15 seasons, World Peace has made one All-Star game, has won one Defensive Player of the Year award and has been named to one All-NBA team. All of those honors were earned in the 2003-04 season, with the no. 23 on his back. He switched to 91 to start the 2004-05 season, and was suspended for the remainder of the year just seven games into that season.
As Mars Blackmon would say, it's gotta be the shoes number.
