The Brooklyn Nets have 52 jersey numbers worn by over 600 different players over the course of their history since the franchise was founded in 1967 as a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA), when the team was known as the “New Jersey Americans”.
Since then, that league has been absorbed by the NBA with the team that would later become the New York Nets and New Jersey Nets before settling on the name by which they are known today, bringing their rich player and jersey history with them to the league of today.
To commemorate the players who played for the Nets over the decades wearing those 52 different jersey numbers, Nets Wire is covering the entire history of the franchise’s jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. The 21st of those 52 different numbers is jersey No. 20, which has has had a total of 28 players wear the number in the history of the team.
The 14th of those players wearing No. 20 played in the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets era, wing alum Johnny Newman. After ending his college career at Richmond, Newman was picked up with the 29th overall selection of the 1986 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Danville, Virginia native would play the first season of his pro career with the Cavs. He would also have stints with the New York Knicks, and Charlotte Hornets before his first stint in New York, starting via trade in 1993. That ended in 1994 when he signed with the Milwaukee Bucks, also playing for the Denver Nuggets and the Cabs again before he landed with New Jersey again via trade in 1999.
That stint came to an end in 2001 when he was dealt to the Phoenix Suns in 2001. During his time suiting up for the Nets, Newman wore only jersey No. 20 and put up 13.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.2 steals per game.
All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.