Spurs’ Keldon Johnson changes jersey number, allowing Chris Paul to wear No. 3 in San Antonio

San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson is switching his jersey number for the 2024-25 NBA season. Johnson, who has worn No. 3 since he’s been in the league for the past five years, will wear No. 0. The switch opens the door for Chris Paul, aka CP3, to wear No. 3 in San Antonio. Paul joined the Spurs this summer, and has never worn another number other than No. 3, even as he’s spent time on six different teams throughout his illustrious, Hall of Fame career.

It’s not unusual to see players change their jersey number when a veteran joins the team, especially one as universally revered as Paul. While Johnson has established himself in this league, he’s certainly not at the level of Paul. And who knows, maybe Paul gave Johnson some sort of monetary compensation or other gifts to give up the only number he’s ever worn both in college and in the NBA.

Johnson’s jersey switch is just the latest of a few other notable number changes we’ve seen this summer across the league. Russell Westbrook, whose most well known for his No. 0 jersey, will be wearing No. 4 when he joins the Denver Nuggets. Westbrook previously wore No. 4 with the Wizards, as well as in high school, and noted on Instagram that he wanted to mark this new journey with a change in number. That, and the No. 0 jersey was already taken by Christian Braun, who helped Denver win a championship in 2023. There were rumors that Westbrook asked Braun for the No. 0 jersey but the young guard refused, however, Westbrook cleared up those reports, saying he never asked Braun for the jersey number.

We’ll also be seeing Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon in a new jersey, as he’ll switch from No. 50 to No. 32, in honor of his late brother, Drew Gordon who died in a car accident in May. Drew wore the No. 32 jersey in college at the University of New Mexico, as well as throughout his professional career overseas.

Johnson officially announced the jersey change to No. 0 on Instagram, where he posted a picture of an image of him in a No. 0 Spurs jersey. Several of his teammates, including Victor Wembanyama, Devin Vassell and Jeremy Sochan commented on the picture supporting the number change.