NBA By The Uniform Numbers: The best players in the 30s

Continuing our series on the best players that wear each uniform number, we rank the best NBA players wearing a number in the 30s

Here we go again for another installment of our series looking at the best players from last season based on jersey numbers. This week we’ll take a look at players who sport numbers in the 30s. Looking ahead, we’ll start to see some stiff competition over the next few weeks. As the numbers get smaller, the name players will continue to emerge.

So let’s get it started beginning with #37.

#37 – Kostas Antetokounmpo, Semi Ojeleye

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If this series is done again in a few years time, the clear cut winner will be Greek Freak 2.0, even if he is half as good as his brother. But this time around the honor goes to Semi Ojeleye.

While his numbers for the season were nothing much to write home about (3.3 points, 1.5 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 10.6 minutes per game), Ojeleye has fashioned himself into a serviceable rotational player in his two seasons in the league.

At 6-foot-7 and 241 pounds, what he may lack in height against most power forwards, he more than makes up in strength.

#36 –Dario Saric, Marcus Smart

Only two candidates emerge for jersey #36 and quite frankly this race is too close to call. Saric’s major highlight this past season occurred in early November, was being involved him being traded from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and a package of players along with a 2022 second-round pick, in exchange for Jimmy Butler and Justin Patton. He was traded again to the Phoenix Suns last month completing a draft-day trade.

Smart is the winner at 36. After beginning the season coming off the bench for the Celtics, he was inserted into the starting lineup after the team’s slow start. He ended up starting 60 games achieving personal highs in shooting percentage (.422), 3-point shooting (.364) and steals (1.8/game). He missed the end of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs with a left oblique tear, before returning during the second round of the playoffs. He was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team and more recently was named a co-captain for Team USA as they compete in the 2019 FIBA World Cup

#35 – Marvin Bagley, Dragan Bender, Reggie Bullock, Kevin Durant, Kenneth Faried

These are the five nominees worth mentioning but there is one clear cut runaway winner.

Kevin Durant is not only the best #35 from last season. He is arguably one of the top 5 players in the entire league and could be one of the best ever before it’s all said and done.

Durant ended his third and final season with the Golden State Warriors playing in the most games in his three seasons in the Bay Area with 78, scoring 26 points per game along with a career-high 5.9 assists.

He had stepped up in the postseason accounting for 32.3 points per contest, but dealt with injuries to his right calf and then a ruptured Achilles tendon ended the Warriors chances of repeating their third straight title. Durant officially signed with the Brooklyn Nets on July 7, 2019, in a sign-and-trade deal, but his injury will likely keep him out for the entire 2019-20 season.

#34 – Giannis Antetokounmpo, Wendell Carter, Devin Harris, Tobias Harris, Shaun Livingston

This nominated list at #34 would make a solid starting five on most nights in the Association, but the one wins out for the best player with this number is Antetokounmpo.

The “Greek Freak” had a monster season statistically to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to 60 wins, good for the top seed in the Eastern Conference

He was named league Most Valuable Player back in June, the second Bucks player ever to win the award, and the third-youngest player ever to do so. He turned 24 last December.

He was named a starter for the Eastern Conference for the all-star game, All-NBA first team, and first-team all-defensive team. He appears poised to have many more campaigns like the one he just displayed in 2018-19.

#33 – Zach Collins, Robert Covington, Marc Gasol, Tobias Harris, Wesley Johnson.

There were 10 players who wore double 3’s this season, and the ones that weren’t mentioned on my nominee list are all decent rotational players on various NBA rosters. But the one who gets the nod here is Tobias Harris.

After starting the season with the Clippers where he wore #34, he was traded in February to the 76ers and switched to jersey #33.

Between the two teams, the combo forward played in a total of 82 games, averaging 20 points per contest. He also earned Western Conference Player of the Month for October and November, the first career Player of the Month honor of his career.

The Sixers re-signed Harris to a five-year deal this offseason. They are banking that he along with frontcourt mates Al Horford and Joel Enbiid can lead Philadelphia to the top of the conference this coming season.

#32 – Kris Dunn, Jimmer Fredette, Karl-Anthony Towns, Noah Vonleh

These are the four name players who get the mention, but the no-doubt winner is Karl-Anthony Towns.

Despite being on a Timberwolves team that doesn’t seem to have any hope of moving out of the bottom half of the Western Conference, KAT is a crown jewel among big men in the league.

He had another typical season for him averaging 24.4 points and a career-high 12.4 rebounds per game while shooting 40 percent from 3-point range this season.

Towns returned to participate in his second straight all-star game and have the potential to be a perennial league MVP candidate.

#31 – Jarrett Allen, Seth Curry, Mike Muscala, Terrence Ross, Tomáš Satoranský

A dozen players sported jersey #31 in 2018-19. No major stars, but most of them are contributors to the teams they play on. While this one is not an easy decision because you could make an argument for all of them; my winner is Terrence Ross.

Of his seven seasons in the NBA, last season was his best all-around. He averaged a shade over 15 points per contest. He was an efficient shooter, with numbers totaling 43 percent from the field, 38 percent from beyond the arc, and 88 percent from the free-throw line. He became the first player to make 200 3-pointers without starting one game during the season.

His play helped the Magic get to the postseason, and even though they were eliminated by the Bucks in the first round, look for Orlando to get back to the playoffs once again with a hunger to show that they are a team on the rise in the Eastern Conference.

#30 – Stephen Curry, Jon Leuer, Naz Mitrou-Long, Julius Randle, Mike Scott

Twelve players wore No. 30 throughout the past season. One player on this list was far and away the best to wear the number. But I will just acknowledge two others who are my winners for the best nickname of the week. Congratulations to Mike Scott (“the three-regional manager”) – a pure genius nod to the Michael Scott character from The Office. As well to Naz Mitrou-Long.

But, of course, the best at 30 is Curry. What am I going to say that hasn’t already been said about the best shooter of the generation, if not of all time. He had another fantastic season in 2018-19 which included averaging 27 points, five rebounds and five assists per game on just under 44 percent shooting from deep.

He was named to his sixth consecutive All-Star Game, his third All-NBA First Team, a fifth straight Finals appearance, and off the court, he is both an executive producer and resident golf pro on sports reality competition television series Holey Moley which debuted on ABC this summer. This man is truly an all-time great in whatever he does in and away from basketball.

So that’s a wrap for this segment of the series. We’ll do it again soon with a look at the top players wearing jersey numbers in the 20s.