Why Michael Jordan Played One Game Without 23 as His Jersey Number

Michael Jordan will always be associated with jersey No. 23, but there have been instances when Jordan played games without his legendary Chicago Bulls jersey. He famously wore No. 45 when he came back from his first retirement. 

However, very few know that Jordan once wore a jersey that wasn’t 23 or 45 either. ‌On Feb. 14, 1990, Jordan played a Bulls game wearing jersey No. 12. The Bulls legend shocked everyone when he took the court with a new jersey with no name on it. But what’s the real story?

On Valentine’s Day, the Bulls were scheduled to face the Orlando Magic in a road game. Just when the Bulls team was putting on its jerseys in the locker room, Jordan realized that his jersey wasn’t there. To everyone’s shock, Michael’s jersey was stolen.

The Bulls were traveling, and they didn’t have a spare Jordan’s No. 23 jersey. There was not enough time to make a jersey for Jordan, and that’s when the team found an unused and unnamed number 12 jersey lying around. Jordan donned the spare jersey for a performance that remains a unique part of NBA lore.

Jordan quickly demonstrated that his performance was not tied to his jersey number. He remained a dominant force regardless of the number on his back. He exploded for 49 points while shooting 21-for-43 from the field. Unfortunately, the Bulls lost the game 135-129 to the Magic. 

Michael Jordan once revealed the reason he wore 23 and 45

Jordan made 23 the most legendary number in the league. LeBron James later revealed that he chose to wear 23 on his jersey because of Jordan. However, it might come as a surprise that 23 wasn’t Jordan’s preferred number when he was drafted.

“My brother wore No. 45, which was my number. So when we were on the same team, we couldn’t wear the same number. So I chose half of what his jersey was, which was 22.5, which I would rather have 23,” Jordan revealed.

However, tragedy hit the Bulls legend when his father passed away in July 1993. Months later, Jordan retired from basketball. He returned a season later, but wore 45, and the reason behind the change was the death of his father.

“I didn’t want to wear 23 because I knew my father wasn’t there to watch me, and I felt it was a new beginning, and 45 was my first number when I was playing in high school,” Jordan said on Episode 8 of “The Last Dance.”

Jordan wore 45 for just 22 games before switching his jersey back to 23. Nick Anderson told Jordan, “45 isn’t 23” in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Jordan switched back to 23 because he liked to find reasons to destroy his opponents. The Bulls even paid a $25,000 fine for the sudden change.