Brooklyn Nets jersey history No. 45 - Soumaila Samake (2000-01)
The Brooklyn Nets have 52 jersey numbers worn by over 600 different players over the course of their history since the franchise was founded in 1967 as a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA), when the team was known as the "New Jersey Americans". Since then, that league has been absorbed by the NBA with the team that would later become the New York Nets and New Jersey Nets before settling on the name by which they are known today, bringing their rich player and jersey history with them to the league of today. To commemorate the players who played for the Nets over the decades wearing those 52 different jersey numbers, Nets Wire is covering the entire history of the franchise's jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team.
And for today's article, we will continue with the ninth of 13 people to wear the No. 45 jersey, big man alum Soumaila Samake. After starting his pro career abroad, Samake was picked up with the 36th overall selection of the 2000 NBA Draft by the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets.
The Bougouni, Mali native played the first season of his pro career with New Jersey, coming to an end when he left the NBA to play in another league in 2001. During his time suiting up for the Nets, Samake wore only jersey No. 45 and put up 1.
4 points and 1. 6 rebounds per game. All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets jersey history No. 45 - Soumaila Samake (2000-01)