Brooklyn Nets jersey history No. 53 - Rich Kelley (1979-80)
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 first of two people to wear the No. 53 jersey, big man alum Rich Kelley. After ending his college career at Stanford, Kelley was picked up with the seventh overall selection of the 1975 NBA Draft by the (then) New Orleans (now, Utah) Jazz.
The San Mateo, California native played the first four seasons of his pro career with New Orleans, coming to an end when he was dealt to the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets in 1979. His stay with the team lasted until he was dealt to the Phoenix Suns in 1980. During his time suiting up for the Nets, Kelley wore only jersey No.
53 and put up 10. 0 points, 7. 0 rebounds, and 1.
4 blocks per game. All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference. This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets jersey history No.