When it started becoming clear that Dwyane Wade would be signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers — as he did officially on Wednesday evening — one of the major questions people had was what number the veteran shooting guard would wear.
Wade has always worn the No. 3 in the NBA, both in Miami and Chicago, but recently acquired point guard Isaiah Thomas already claimed the No. 3 this summer. Seeing Wade in a double-digit number would be especially weird, so it was generally assumed he’d be in something between 1-9.
The No. 2 was recently freed up by Kyrie Irving’s departure, and it would’ve been a delicious little bit of pettiness for LeBron’s best friend to step in and take Irving’s old number a month after he left. However, it was announced on Wednesday night by ESPN’s Dave McMenamin that those hoping for the petty wars to escalate between the Cavs and Kyrie wouldn’t be rewarded, as Wade will rock the No. 9, his national team number, forcing rookie Cedi Osman to find a new number.
Dwyane Wade will wear No. 9 for the Cavaliers, the number he wore in the '08 and '12 Olympics. CLE rook Cedi Osman will choose a new number
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) September 27, 2017
Poor Cedi. He finally came over to the Cavs and thought he’d at least be able to wear his first choice of numbers, and then they go sign Wade and he gets booted out of his jersey. The choice makes sense for Wade, being the number he’s worn in the Olympics and international competition, but it’s certainly not as much fun as if he’d swiped the No. 2. Oh well, maybe Cedi will do the honors of taking that over.
