NBA: Los Angeles Lakers at Minnesota Timberwolves
NBA: Los Angeles Lakers at Minnesota Timberwolves Reuters

Kevin Love was officially traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers last Saturday. With a new team, Love, who spent his first six seasons in the NBA with the Minnesota Timberwolves, also has to use a new jersey number switching from the No. 42 to No. 0.

The Cavaliers have retired seven numbers in its history including center Nate Thurmond who donned the jersey with that number from 1975 to 1977 so Love has use a new jersey number with Cleveland.

As expected, the shift to zero has prompted NBA fans to make jokes about Kevin Love’s decision to choose that number; one of which is that he chose it because it equals to the number of playoff appearances in his career.

Love was drafted 5th overall in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies, which traded him to the Timberwolves on draft day. He has yet to reach the postseason despite averaging excellent numbers with the ballclub especially in the last few seasons.

In 2013-2014, his last season in Minnesota, Kevin Love averaged career-high numbers of 26.1 points and 12.5 rebounds per outing making him an easy MVP-candidate. However, the Timberwolves failed to make the postseason again finishing with a losing record of 40 wins against 42 losses just the 10th best in the Western Conference.

Other Players Who Used the No. 0 Jersey in the History of the NBA

The most NBA player who is most associated with the jersey number zero is none other than Gilbert Arenas, who had the nickname “Agent Zero” during his time in the league playing for the Golden State Warriors and Washington Wizards from 2002 to 2010.

Other players who donned a jersey with the zero number are Randy Brown (Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns); Larry Hughes (New York Knicks, Charlotte Bobcats); Eric Montross (Boston Celtics) and Orlando Woodridge (Chicago Bulls, New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons and Philadelphia 76ers) among other inactive players.

For active players, Love will join a group that uses the No. 0 jersey like Bismack Biyombo (Charlotte Bobcats); Avery Bradley (Boston Celtics); Drew Gooden (Milwaukee Bucks); Enes Kanter (Utah Jazz); Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers); Greg Smith (Houston Rockets); Jeff Teague (Atlanta Hawks); Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder) and Nick Young (Los Angeles Lakers) among others.

With LeBron James in his team and new jersey number to boot, Kevin Love won’t have to worry anymore about the zero playoff appearances jokes; rather, he aims for a higher goal of earning more than zero NBA championships.