There's only one jersey number in the NBA rumored to be banned. When one person tried to use it, the NBA shut the idea down immediately.
Some professional athletes will do whatever it takes to get the jersey number they want. Some buy their teammates dinner, offer $250k, or even buy their teammate a brand-new car. Meanwhile, some just pick whatever's available. However, in the NBA, there are only two numbers no player will ever have to pay or ask permission for in the future.
We already know one of them. Number 6 was recently retired across the entire NBA to honor the late Bill Russell and for good reason. He was a pivotal force not only in the basketball court in the early 60s, but also helped fight for the civil rights of his fellow African Americans.
The other number no player will ever wear in NBA history is 69. There's no set-in-stone ruling that forbids NBA players from using this jersey number. However, some do associate this number with bad luck. Meanwhile some think this number may not be too family-friendly since it's synonymous with a sexual position. But on February 3, 2000, that almost changed.
When Dennis Rodman was entering the late stages of his NBA career, he wanted to add something to his long list of shenanigans when he signed with the Dallas Mavericks. The team, which was undergoing new ownership with Mark Cuban, was still in the process of completing his purchase of the Mavericks for $285 million. When Cuban asked Rodman what his preferred jersey number would be, he requested to have jersey number 69, per Marc Stein.
Cuban, who's yet to be acquainted with the NBA's rules at this point, fulfills Rodman's request immediately. After all, he was a 5-time NBA champion and came off a season averaging 11.3 rebounds at 37. Cuban has a few copies of the jersey made primarily to be used for pictures. In fact, in Rodman's introductory press conference, he was given a number 69 jersey, per The Athletic. But moments later, David Stern stepped in and vetoed Rodman's request.
Instead, they made Rodman wear number 70, and would be the last time we'd see Rodman in an NBA uniform. He played in only 12 games for the Mavericks before getting waived due to his conduct detrimental to the team. You can read more on Rodman's brief tenure with the Mavericks on this Twitter thread by Marc Stein.
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