Did the Washington Wizards Unofficially Retire the Number Zero Because of Gilbert Arenas?
Russell Westbrook was traded to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. Westbrook has worn zero on his jersey for his entire career. First for 11 seasons in Oklahoma City and then last year with the Houston Rockets. Since no one currently wears #0 on the Wizards roster, you would assume that would be his number, but maybe not. And it has nothing to do with Westbrook's preference.
The number hasn't been used by Washington since Gilbert Arenas last wore it on January 5, 2010. It's not super weird that no one has worn number zero, but what is strange is this tweet from Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington that makes it sound like the Wizards unofficially retired the jersey because it was Arenas' number.
Regarding Russell Westbrook and the No. 0. Other players have come in and asked to wear it and have been told 'no' because it was Gilbert Arenas' number.
— Chase Hughes (@ChaseHughesNBCS) December 3, 2020
Those players, however, were not Russell Westbrook. So, we'll see.
Now, there are two possibilities here. Maybe they just don't want anyone to wear it so they can distance themselves from the guy who brought the guns to the locker room. Either that or they hold Agent Zero in such high regard that they're doing it out of honor for the three time All-NBA player. One of those is a bit problematic for the franchise that changed its name from the Bullets to the Wizards.