Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden will wear No. 1 with his new team after being traded from the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, per Chris Fedor of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
Harden wore No. 13 for the first 13-plus seasons of his NBA career. He changed to No. 1 after the Brooklyn Nets traded him to the Philadelphia 76ers in Feb. 2022. No. 13 wasn’t an option in Philadelphia with the 76ers having already retired NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain’s No. 13, so he switched to No. 1.
Harden has been No. 1 ever since with the 76ers, L.A. Clippers and now Cavs.
The 11-time All-Star was traded to the Clips for Darius Garland and a 2026 second-round draft pick. He has started 44 games this season and averaged 25.4 points, 8.1 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals per contest.
Harden will make his debut for the 31-21 Cavs, who are fourth in the Eastern Conference, on Saturday evening at the Sacramento Kings.