When Russell Westbrook was traded to Utah by the Clippers and waived by the Jazz (for the second time in his career, oddly enough), he quickly landed in Denver where Nikola Jokic was reportedly a proponent of bringing in the former MVP to bolster the Nuggets bench depth. It will be the sixth actual stop in Westbrook’s career (not including the two Utah stints that have lasted a combined two minutes), but the first where he won’t wear the No. 0.
From Oklahoma City to Houston to Washington to both L.A. teams, Westbrook has worn the same number, but in Denver he’ll wear the No. 4. That is in part because 0 is already taken by Christian Braun, and there was a report that Westbrook tried to get 0 from Braun came from Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports, who claimed Braun “didn’t budge” on the number request. That apparently led to some of Westbrook’s fans being unhappy with Braun, so the former MVP took to Instagram to clear the air and call for his fans to support Braun, insisting he never even asked for the No. 0 and wanted to mark his new chapter with a new number.
Whether this is indeed how it went down or even if there were some negotiations that never got off the ground for a number change, it’s good of Westbrook to clear the air here and make sure everyone knows it’s all love with his new teammate. That’s particularly important for the Nuggets, because Denver is going to need both guards to play well (and likely some together) if they are to have a chance as a contender this season after letting Kentavious Caldwell-Pope walk, as they lost a core piece of their title team for the second straight summer. Braun will shift into KCP’s role, while Westbrook takes over as backup point guard after Denver traded away Reggie Jackson.
