After 12 years since the 2012 London Olympics, LeBron James once again wore the national team shirt. He attended the final Olympics of his career with the ambition of bringing home a gold medal for American basketball.

At the age of 39, LeBron James is still maintaining his peak performance. This is extremely admirable, because few people can maintain their ability to compete when they are close to the age of forty.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, LeBron James chose shirt number 6, a far cry from the shirt number he wears for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2023/24 season. In this article, The Sporting News will explain LeBron James’ choice.

Why does LeBron James wear shirt number 6 when playing for the US team at the 2024 Paris Olympics?

LeBron James first wore number 6 for the US team at the 2006 FIBA World Cup. That was also the number this player wore with the Miami Heat from 2010 to 2014.

With LeBron James, this player has repeatedly shared the number 6 as “my personal number”. This is explained by the fact that Bronny James was born on October 6, while Bryce James was born on June 14. Both of LeBron James’s children are attached to the number 6 in their lives.

Besides, LeBron James also said that Julius Erving was one of the players he idolized when he was a child. Erving wore numbers 6 and 23 throughout his NBA career.

However, LeBron James’s loyalty to shirt number 6 also depends on an ancient rule of international matches.

Shirt number rules at FIBA tournaments

Before 2018, players were only allowed to wear shirt numbers from 4 to 15 in tournaments under the FIBA system (World Basketball Federation). For this reason, LeBron James could not choose shirt number 23 when playing for the US team in previous years, even though that was the number he wore when he first started playing in the NBA.

After 2012, LeBron James no longer plays for the US team. When returning to Uncle Sam’s shirt at the 2024 Paris Olympics, LeBron James remains loyal to the number 6 shirt that has been with him for many years when competing at the international level, even though the rule of shirt numbers from 4 to 15 has been abandoned. ages ago long ago.

Notably, LeBron James made his Olympic debut in Athens 2004 with shirt number 9. However, he changed his shirt number to Dwyane Wade in other tournaments in the future and completely stuck with shirt number 6.

LeBron James jersey number history

Throughout his career, LeBron James has worn shirt numbers 6, 9, 23 and 32. Of these, shirt number 9 was only worn during his time competing at the 2004 Athens Olympics, while shirt number 32 was worn by LeBron James. worn only during my first year of high school.

In his remaining years, LeBron James mainly sticks to number 6 and number 23.