It’s summertime in the NBA, so it’s time to learn some history. The Philadelphia 76ers are one of the older franchises in the NBA. Their history dates to the 1949-50 season.
With that longevity, the team has had hundreds of players come through the City of Brotherly Love. Sixers Wire looks at the No. 23 which has been worn by a whopping 33 of those players in the history of the franchise. This running series will go through all of the uniform numbers worn in franchise history.
Here is the list of the 33 players who have worn No. 23 in Sixers history:
Barney Cable
Cable played for the Syracuse Nationals for 1.5 seasons donning the No. 23 and he averaged 6.6 points and 5.2 rebounds.
Joe Gaboski
Next was Graboski’s turn to wear No. 23 as he played 23 games for the Nationals averaging 5.1 points and 4.6 rebounds.
Chuck Osborne
That same season as Graboski wearing the number, Osborne also wore the No. 23. He played four games and he averaged 1.3 points and 2.3 rebounds.
Len Chappell
Still in the Nationals era, Chappell wore 23 in the 1962-63 season and he averaged 8.9 points and 5.8 rebounds as a rookie.
Hubie White
White played 23 games donning the No. 23 and he averaged 3.4 points and 1.8 rebounds during his time with the Sixers.
Wali Jones
Jones wore No. 24 for the majority of his time in Philadelphia, be he wore 23 in his first season with the Sixers in the 1965-66 season. He averaged 9.0 points and 3.4 assists in that season.
Steve Courtin
Courtin, playing college basketball in the above photo, only played one season in the NBA. He played 24 games for the Sixers and he averaged 4.2 points and 0.9 rebounds.
Bill Bridges
Bridges played 74 games for Philadelphia across parts of two seasons and he averaged 13.3 points and 13.3 rebounds.
Joe Bryant
Joe “Jelly Bean” Bryant, the father of Kobe, played four seasons in Philadelphia and he averaged 6.4 points and 3.3 rebounds across 287 games.
Steve Mix
Mix wore No. 50 before switched to No. 23 for his final two seasons in Philadelphia. He averaged 9.0 points and 3.3 rebounds while wearing No. 23.
Charles Jones
Jones played exactly one game for the Sixers donning the No. 23 and he scored one point in that game.
Bruce Kuczenski
Kuczenski also wore No. 23 in the 1983-84 season and he played only three games for the Sixers. He averaged a point and 2.0 rebounds.
Terry Catledge
Catledge played 64 games as a rookie and he averaged 7.7 points and 4.3 rebounds while donning the No. 23.
Roy Hinson
Hinson played 105 games across two seasons for Philadelphia and he averaged 13.3 points and 6.3 rebounds.
Bob Thornton
Thornton wore No. 45 in his first season in Philadelphia, but he switched to 23 and he averaged 2.6 points and 2.1 rebounds with the Sixers.
Mitchell Wiggins
Wiggins averaged 4.3 points and 1.9 rebounds in his one season with the Sixers.
Tim Perry
Perry played 211 games for Philadelphia with 120 starts and he averaged 7.3 points and 4.3 rebounds.
Rex Walters
Walters played 111 games for Philadelphia and he averaged 5.4 points and 2.1 assists.
Rodney Buford
Buford only played one season for Philadelphia and he averaged 5.3 points and 1.6 rebounds in that one season.
Tim James
James wore the No. 23 during his one season in Philadelphia and he averaged 1.3 points and 0.8 rebounds in nine games for the Sixers.
Josh Davis
Davis played only one season in Philadelphia and he averaged 2.8 points and 1.9 rebounds in that one season.
Lou Williams
Williams began his career in Philadelphia and he played seven seasons with the Sixers. He averaged 11.3 points ad 3.0 assists and he was a big factor on a couple of playoff teams while also beginning his career as one of the best 6th Men of all time.
Jason Richardson
Richardson was acquired in the infamous Andrew Bynum trade and he was toward the end of his career. He missed the entire 2013-14 season due to injury and he averaged 10.0 points and 3.7 rebounds in 52 games with the Sixers.
Justin Anderson
Anderson wore two different numbers for Philadelphia as he started off with No. 23 after being acquired from the Dallas Mavericks. He averaged 8.5 points and 4.0 rebounds while wearing the number.
Ersan Ilyasova
Ilyasova had two different stints for the Sixers and he wore a different number in both stints. He wore No. 23 when he returned in the 2017-18 season and he averaged 10.8 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting 35.9% from deep off the bench for them.
Landry Shamet
Shamet wore No. 23 initially before Philadelphia traded for Jimmy Butler and he then had to switch to No. 1. In 54 games with the Sixers in his rookie season, he averaged 8.3 points and shot 40.4% from deep before being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers for Tobias Harris.
Jimmy Butler
Butler was the one that got away in the 2019 offseason. He played 55 games for the Sixers and he averaged 18.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists while being the go-to guy in the clutch and providing real leadership for the Sixers. He then averaged 19.4 points in the playoffs before he left for the Miami Heat.
Trey Burke
Burke only played 25 games for the Sixers in the 2019-20 season and he averaged 5.9 points and 2.1 assists, but he lost out on the backup point guard to Raul Neto and he was waived.
Terrance Ferguson
While playing for a deep Sixers team, Ferguson played only 13 games and he averaged 0.2 points and 0.2 assists.
Charles Bassey
Bassey only played one season with the Sixers and averaged 3.0 points and 2.7 rebounds in his rookie season. He was then waived and joined the San Antonio Spurs and has been with them the previous three seasons.
Louis King
King played exactly one game for the Sixers which was the season finale of the 2022-23 season. He had 20 points and four rebounds in that contest.
Terquavion Smith
Smith played 16 games for the Sixers as an undrafted rookie and averaged 3.3 points and 0.8 assists.
Eric Gordon
The veteran was limited to only 39 games in his first season with the Sixers in 2024-25 averaging 6.8 points and 1.7 assists, but he shot 40.9% from deep as he showed he can still knock down the 3-pointer at a high rate.