Milwaukee's first-round NBA Draft choice has a good chance at becoming the greatest player to ever wear #9 for the Bucks.
No, it's not hyperbole: The bar is set fairly low for first-round pick Donte DiVincenzo as he takes on the #9 jersey for the Milwaukee Bucks, the 17th player in team history to do so, to become the greatest #9 in team history. Nobody has ever gone even two seasons in the #9 for the Bucks.
Some of the more incredible facts about the history of the #9 in Milwaukee:
- No player has worn #9 for as long as two seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks. Francisco Elson sported the numeral in 2009 and 2010, but was part of a trade to bring back Primoz Brezec, who also wore the #9 for Milwaukee.
- On three separate occasions, two players have worn the #9 in the same season for the Bucks. Jeff Nordgaard and Tony Smith in 1998, Elson and Brezek in 2010, and Chris Copeland and Jared Cunningham in 2016 are the three duos.
- The #9 has changed hands six times in the past five seasons, from 2014 to 2018.
You can see the full history of Bucks jersey numbers here at Basketball Reference, but here's the full list for the #9 jersey (click on the names to see their career stats at Basketball Reference):
- Bob Love 1969
- McCoy McLemore 1972
- Gary Gregor 1973
- Jeff Nordgaard 1998
- Tony Smith 1998
- Dale Ellis 2000
- Yi Jianlian 2008
- Francisco Elson 2009-2010
- Primoz Brezec 2010
- Shaun Livingston 2012
- Miroslav Raduljica 2014
- Jared Dudley 2015
- Chris Copeland 2016
- Jared Cunningham 2016
- Michael Beasley 2017
- Sean Kilpatrick 2018
- Donte DiVincenzo 2019
Photo: Getty Images