With veteran Eric Gordon no longer on the roster, Houston Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. is switching to the No. 10 jersey for the 2023-24 season. That’s the number Smith, the No. 3 draft pick from the 2022 first round, wore during his superb college days at Auburn.
But for Smith, who recently turned 20 years old, the significance of that jersey number goes back even longer than that.
In an announcement from the team’s video channel, Smith said:
Getting back to that number, I feel like it’s just getting back to who I am, and what got me here.
When I first got to high school, I wasn’t really recruited. I got number 10. I didn’t play that much, I kept my number, because I knew that I was going to work to be something special.
Though Gordon was traded at February’s trade deadline, NBA rules did not allow Smith to change his number during the season. Thus, Smith played out the year with a No. 1 jersey, which he chose when Gordon was still on Houston’s roster last offseason. Most rookies — even highly drafted ones — defer to veterans in such scenarios.
As a slender 19-year-old rookie, Smith averaged 12.8 points (40.8% FG, 30.7% on 3-pointers) and 7.2 rebounds in 31.0 minutes per game. He appears in line to again start at power forward for the Rockets in 2023-24, and an offseason of hard work related to strength and conditioning can bolster his chances of a breakout year.
Perhaps getting his preferred jersey number can help, too.
