1) 18 active players wore #6 in ’21-’22 and may continue to do so until they retire

Part of the official declaration from the NBA on retiring #6 league-wide was a clause that any active players would be grandfathered in to continued use, if they so choose. There were 24 active players at some point in ’21-’22 wearing #6 though only 18 of them were on active rosters by the end of the season. The most prestigious name on that list is LeBron James, while other notables are 2019 All-Star Kristaps Porzingis, Pacers franchise legend Lance Stephenson, former Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell, and 2021 first round pick Keon Johnson, who, at age 21, is arguably the odds-on favorite to be the last ever #6 in league history.

2) The person who scored the first basket in NBA history was wearing #6 when he did it

On November 1, 1946, the NBA (then called the BAA) tipped off its inaugural season in Toronto. The first basket of that game, an underhanded lay-up, is credited to Ossie Schectman, who wore #6 for the Knicks. By the time of his groundbreaking accomplishment, Schectman was already a seasoned basketball veteran, having spent several years with the legendary barnstorming team the Philadelphia SPHAs after a star turn at Long Island University. His NBA career ultimately lasted just one season, averaging 8.1 points per game for the Knicks before stepping away to concentrate on his career as a salesperson. Not only did he score the first basket in NBA history, Schectman was also the first #6 to take the court.

3) Other players who predate Bill Russell as #6 wearers include four Celtics, a scoring champion, and a member of the first NBA title team

When Bill Russell first suited up for the Celtics in December of 1956, he became the fifth and eventually final player to ever wear #6 for the franchise, as they retired it in his honor in 1972. It was originally worn by Johnny Simmons, a member of the inaugural ’46-’47 Celtics and younger brother of Knicks star Connie Simmons. The last Celtics player in a green #6 before Russell was Hank Beenders, a Dutch center who spent eight games with Boston in ’48-’49. Inarguably the greatest league wide #6 wearer before Russell was Neil Johnston, who was a three-time scoring champ, six-time All-Star, and title winner with the Warriors in 1956. But Johnston wasn’t the first #6 to celebrate a championship, as that jersey had previously been worn by Jerry Fleishman, a member of the ’46-’47 Warriors that won the inaugural NBA title.

4) For the first 42 years of Lakers history, no player wore #6

Though they’re arguably the premier NBA franchise and their history in the league dates back to 1948, no Lakers #6 jersey had ever been distributed until Chucky Brown took the floor in November 1991. A former Cavaliers draft pick, Brown was cut by Cleveland early in the ’91-’92 season and subsequently played 36 games on the Lakers after signing with them. Though he normally suited up as #52, Brown switched to #6 with the Lakers to avoid overlapping with retired franchise legend Jamaal Wilkes, who eventually had that jersey retired in his honor in 2012. Brown returned to #52 in later stops in his career, including when he won a championship with the Rockets in 1995. Another notable Laker to wear #6 was two-time All-Star Eddie Jones, who started off as #25 when the Lakers drafted him in 1994 but switched to #6 soon after when the team retired his former jersey in honor of Gail Goodrich.

5) Meanwhile, for the Lakers’ in-state rivals the Kings, no one has worn #6 since 1957

The team now known as the Sacramento Kings was originally called the Rochester Royals when they joined the NBA in 1948 and has since moved three times: From Rochester to Cincinnati in 1957, from Cincinnati to Kansas City in 1972 (when they changed their name from Royals to Kings), and from Kansas City to Sacramento in 1985. They also spent three seasons splitting games between Kansas City and Omaha, bringing their grand total to five host cities. Only two players have ever worn #6 during that entire time, and both did so back when the franchise was still in Rochester. They were Red Davis, who played three games for the Royals in the ’55-’56 season and Bob Burrow, who was a second round pick in 1956 but spent just his rookie season in Rochester. There’s no explanation for why Kansas City, Omaha, and Cincinnati never saw a #6 but it could never be worn in Sacramento because the franchise retired the number upon moving there, in honor of their fans (a.k.a., the “sixth man”). In addition to the Cincinnati Royals, Kansas City/Omaha Kings, and Sacramento Kings, #6 was also never worn by a player on the San Diego Clippers, New Orleans Jazz, San Francisco Warriors, or Buffalo Braves before they re-located.

6) #6 has also been off limits in the NCAA since the 1960s but not because of Bill Russell

San Francisco retired Russell’s #6 jersey soon after the legend left school, honoring his accomplishments which included two NCAA titles, two All-American nods, and multiple Player of the Year awards. It became a moot point soon after anyway, as the NCAA banned the #6 for all players, along with about 50 other jersey numbers, including #7, #8, and #9. No one knows for sure when this was first enacted, including the NCAA itself, but we do at least understand why. It’s due to the hand signaling system used by NCAA referees to indicate the player’s number to official scorers when a foul is called. For example, to indicate that #33 has committed a foul, the ref will hold up three fingers on each hand. Because this could potentially cause confusion as intending #6 instead, the NCAA keeps it clear by allowing only certain jersey numbers to be used.

7) Including Bill Russell himself, 10 NBA players have won a championship while wearing #6 as part of the active postseason roster

We’ve already mentioned above that Jerry Fleishman was the first #6 to win a title, doing so in the NBA’s inaugural season. It was next accomplished by Neil Johnston with the Warriors in 1956 and then Russell with the Celtics on 11 occasions, first in 1957 and for the final time in 1969. Mike Riordan joined them on the list in 1970 as backup guard for the Knicks. It took 13 years for another #6 to earn a championship and it was an all-time great, Julius Erving with the 76ers in 1983. Next up was Trent Tucker with the Bulls in 1993, followed by Avery Johnson with the Spurs in 1999. All-timer draft bust Adam Morrison was sporting #6 (while mostly sitting on the bench) for the 2009 Lakers championship team. Tyson Chandler got to meet Russell after winning a title with the Mavericks in 2011 and informed the Celtics legend that he wore #6 in honor of him. LeBron James changed his jersey from #23 to #6 upon joining the Heat in 2010 (because Miami had retired #23 for Michael Jordan, which is a whole other story) and won back-to-back championships in that number in 2012 and 2013. Finally, the last #6 to celebrate with the Larry O’Brien trophy, potentially ever, was Nick Young with the Warriors in 2018.

“With the Knicks retiring #6 for Bill Russell, the franchise loses its long due opportunity to properly honor Willie Naulls. While he didn’t have quite the on-court or off-court impact of Russell, Naulls is one of the key figures in NBA boundary breaking.”

8) In addition to the Celtics, five other franchises had already previously retired #6

When the Celtics retired his jersey in 1972, Bill Russell became the first #6 honored as such. Three more franchises have retired a #6 jersey for a player since, starting with the 76ers in 1988, when they raised Julius Erving’s uniform to the rafters. The Suns retired Walter Davis’ #6 in 1994, immortalizing the all-time franchise scoring leader. Avery Johnson watched his #6 Spurs jersey get enshrined in 2007, honoring the former un-drafted point guard who rose to the level of franchise legend, thanks largely to his contributions to the 1999 championship run. There are two other franchises that have retired jersey #6 but not for a player. We’ve already mentioned that the Kings retired #6 in 1985 in honor of their fanbase, i.e., the “sixth man,” This was also done by the Orlando Magic, who then temporarily “un-retired” the jersey in 2001 to allow free agent signee Patrick Ewing to wear it, as his accustomed #33 was already taken by Grant Hill. Ewing was adamant about wearing #6, which he had also donned at the 1984 and 1992 Olympics, in honor of Russell.

9) Only two players in NBA history have won a championship as a player-coach and both were wearing #6 when they did it

40 players have served double duty as a concurrent NBA player and coach, a list that includes legends like Bob Cousy, Dolph Schayes, Dave Cowens, and Lenny Wilkens. But only two player-coaches have guided their teams to NBA championships: Bill Russell and Buddy Jeannette. Russell became the first Black head coach in 1966 and soon after the first to win a championship, doing so in 1968 and 1969 while serving double duty as Boston’s starting center. Jeannette’s story is much less known. A former star on the barnstorming circuit before stints in the NBL and ABL, he was 30 years old upon reaching the NBA in 1947, as the league poached his Baltimore Bullets from the ABL. The Bullets subsequently shocked the Warriors in the 1948 NBA Finals, with Jeannette fourth on the team in scoring as the starting point guard, while also serving as head coach. Jeannette stayed on as a player-coach for two more seasons but the Bullets struggled to repeat their incredible 1948 run and folded in 1955 despite that initial success.

10) Two players other than Bill Russell earned league MVP while wearing #6, while one has been named Defensive Player of the Year

Eight league MVP trophies have been awarded to a player wearing #6, five of which were granted to Russell, in 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, and 1965. The next #6 to be named MVP was Julius Erving, for his exploits in the ’80-’81 season. LeBron James then did it twice, winning back-to-back trophies while he was sporting #6 for the Heat in ’11-’12 and ’12-’13. James also won Finals MVP in each of those seasons, becoming the only player with a #6 jersey to do so. Though the trophy is now named after Russell in recognition of his success in 12 championship series, it didn’t exist until 1969 so he never won it. There was also no Defensive Player of the Year recognition during Russell’s career, as it was first handed out in ’82-’83. That’s another memento that would be taking up decorative space in Russell’s trophy case but as it stands, Tyson Chandler is the only player ever to win one while wearing #6, doing so for the Knicks in ’11-’12.

11) One of Bill Russell’s teammates in the first all-Black starting lineup was a former #6 wearer who also changed the sport of basketball

With the Knicks retiring #6 for Bill Russell, the franchise loses its long due opportunity to properly honor Willie Naulls. While he didn’t have quite the on-court or off-court impact of Russell, Naulls is one of the key figures in NBA boundary breaking. In 1960, while with the Knicks, he became the first Black player to ever be named a team captain in any of the major U.S. pro sports (Russell was subsequently named captain of the Celtics a year later). During his six seasons in New York, Naulls was an All-Star four times and finished in the top 10 in the NBA in both scoring and rebounding in three different seasons. Traded to the Celtics in 1963, Naulls soon after made history again, this time alongside Russell as part of the first all-Black starting lineup. Switching to #12 in deference to Russell, Naulls won three titles in Boston before retiring in 1966.

12) There’s been one father-son duo in NBA history who both wore #6 and one pair of siblings

One of the youngest players (at age 21) to wear #6 in the ’21-’22 season was Kenyon Martin, Jr. of the Rockets. As you may have guessed, he’s the son of Kenyon Martin, who spent 15 years in the NBA. When Kenyon, Jr. was born in 2001, Kenyon, Sr. was in the midst of his rookie season, wearing #6 for the Nets. He was eventually named an All-Star for New Jersey in 2004 and a huge part of the team reaching back-to-back NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. Kenyon, Sr. later also represented the #6 in stops with the Nuggets and Bucks. Just like his father, Kenyon, Jr. wears #6 while flashing his incredible athleticism and shot blocking prowess. There was also a pair of brothers to both wear #6 and it came at the beginning of NBA history. As mentioned above, the first Celtics player ever with jersey #6 was Johnny Simmons, a member of the inaugural ’46-’47 team. One of his teammates was his brother, Connie, whom the Celtics signed after watching the siblings play together in a post-practice pick-up game. Connie wore #10 for the Celtics and later #18 in his prime years with the Knicks, but he was also #6 for one half season with the Nationals, in ’54-’55.

13) Bill Russell and LeBron James are the only players to win an NBA title and an Olympic gold medal while wearing #6

There’s a lot that Russell and James have in common, from their greatness on the court to their tireless social justice efforts. They also constitute the entire list of players to win an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal while wearing #6. Due to a FIBA regulation that all World Championship and Olympic jerseys are limited to numbers 4 to 15, numerous NBA greats have been forced to swap numbers in international competition. Case in point: On the 1992 Dream Team, Patrick Ewing wore #6 in honor of Russell, while Michael Jordan was #9, Magic Johnson was #15, and Larry Bird was #7. Russell got to use his #6, same as high school, college, and later the NBA, as part of the dominant 1956 Olympic team. James was #9 for the 2004 Olympics, then selected #6 in 2008 and 2012. In between those competitions, he also swapped his NBA jersey #23 for #6, which was chosen not in honor of Russell but of Julius Erving. Beyond Russell, James, and Ewing, #6 has also been wore at the Olympics for Team USA by Larry Brown (1964), Jo Jo White (1968), Adrian Dantley (1976), Penny Hardaway (1996), Allan Houston (2000), Dwyane Wade (2004), DeAndre Jordan (2016), and Damian Lillard (2020).