The Oklahoma City Thunder (and the Seattle Supersonics before them) have 51 jersey numbers worn by the players who have suited up for the franchise since its founding at the start of the 1967-68 season. To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Thunder Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team.
And while those Supersonics jerseys may not remain part of the franchise history should a new team be established in Seattle as was the case with the return of the Charlotte Hornets, they are part of the Thunder’s history today.
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For this article, we continue with the 42nd jersey number in the series, jersey No. 45, with nine players in total having donned the jersey in the history of the franchise.
Thunder City Edition uniform (Photo by Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images)
The third of those players who did so in the Seattle SuperSonics era, forward alum Bruce Seals. After ending his college career at Xavier, Seals was picked up with the 21st overall selection of the 1975 NBA Draft by the SuperSonics.
The New Orleans, Louisiana native played the first two seasons of his pro career with the (defunct) Utah Stars of the ABA before signing with Seattle for the final three seasons of his basketball career.
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During his time suiting up for the Sonics, Seals wore only jersey No. 45 and put up 10.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game.
All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.
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This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Thunder jersey history No. 45 – Bruce Seals (1975-78)