If the number 13 is so unlucky, why did these great athletes wear that number?
On this Friday the 13th, let us remember that not everyone takes to heart that superstition about it being unlucky.
In fact, let’s take a look at the top athletes in professional sports to have used that number.
A writer for the New York Daily News listed the top 13 athletes who wore that number. I will take a look at the tops in each sport.
Wilt the Stilt
To me, Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest post player ever, though Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the best post scorer in history. Wilt, however, wore that number 13 at Hersheypark Arena one night when he did something that no one today is likely to ever match,
If you've never done it, go look up Wilt the Stilt's mindboggling year-by-year statistics, which extend way beyond the NBA-record 100 points Chamberlain scored in one game for the Philadelphia Warriors against the Knicks in 1962.
The 7-1 center AVERAGED 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds per game that season, and he finished his career with seven scoring titles, four MVP awards and two NBA championships.
Peter Botte, “Friday the 13th special: The 13 best athletes to ever wear so-called unlucky No. 13 on their jersey, New York Daily News, May 13, 2016
Why did Wilt wear that number?
According to one researcher, he wore it almost all of the time from high school to the pros,
For the entirety of Wilt Chamberlain’s basketball career, he wore the number 13, right? Everyone knows this fact - the number is synonymous with the Big Dipper. It’s the number that has been retired by all three of the franchises he played for (Warriors, 76ers, and Lakers) and was also the number he wore while in college at Kansas and during his high school years back in Philadelphia.
We’ll start with the one that he reportedly wore first: #12. While at Kansas, Wilt had donned the famous 13 for most of his career. As mentioned before, it was the number that he wore in high school as well, so naturally it was a safe assumption that he would carry on with wearing the number for his junior season. However, Wilt allegedly (you’ll see why I’m saying this later) changed his number to 12 sometime during the 1957-58 campaign.
Of course, the number change didn’t have any negative effect on his play on the court, as Wilt was a unanimous choice for the collegiate First Team All-America even though he was sidelined with an injury for a portion of the season. At least, that’s what the website sothebys claims, with its Kansas home white 1957-58 autographed #12 jersey being the only site that I could find that stated with certainty that Chamberlain wore that number at all.
“The most unknown Wilt Chamberlain story,” Amino.com, Dec. 9, 2018
Dan Marino
The Pittsburgh guy, Dan Marino wore number 13 in college and then with the Dolphins. His number has been retired there, so it will not be worn again.
Marino threw for 61,361 yards and 420 TDs in his professional career, earning All-Pro recognition in eight seasons and Pro Bowl in nine. He was the NFL Most Valuable Player in his second season, 1984, when the Dolphins advanced to the Super Bowl. That year, he had four 400-yard passing games, nine 300-yard games, throwing for 48 touchdowns and 5,084 yards.
Nevertheless, he wore the number 13.
When he retired, he had set every passing record in the NFL, and he played in an offense that was not the West Coast one invented by Bill Walsh and further refined by Mike Holmgren and Andy Reid has increased the numbers of contemporary quarterbacks.
Baseball
Alex Rodriguez
I hesitate to use this name in conjunction with number 13 because while A-Rod did have some great seasons after he joined the Yankees and had to give up his number 3 and take 13, he really had some major problems after that,
MLB: Alex Rodriguez
The All-Star third baseman didn't always flout superstition with his jersey number. In Seattle and Texas, he wore No. 3 before being traded to the Yankees. When he arrived in the Bronx in 2004, No. 3 was not available -- the team had retired it in honor of some guy named Babe Ruth. So he opted for 13 and hasn't looked back. Since adding a 1 to the 3, Rodriguez has won two AL MVP awards, three Silver Slugger awards and a World Series ring -- and has even dated Kate Hudson and Cameron Diaz. Sure, he had to fess up to using steroids, but that's just a bump in the road.
Unlucky 13? Hardly.
Amanda Rykoff, “Not so unlucky No. 13,” ESPN, May 11, 2011
The reason that I say that 13 may have been unlucky is because of the steroids, but then again, he was probably using them before he arrived in New York.
The Daily News story was a little more realistic about A-Rod’s luck in New York,
Alex Rodriguez: A-Rod wore No.3 earlier in his career with Seattle and Texas before famously switching to 13 when he joined the Yankees in 2004, because his previous number had been retired for decades in the Bronx for a fellow named Babe Ruth. It's been a star-crossed dozen years in pinstripes ever since for Rodriguez – featuring two MVP awards, the lone World Series title of his career in 2009, too many gossip-page appearances to list and two separate blowups with performance-enhancing drugs, including his full-season Biogenesis ban in 2014.
Peter Botte, Daily News, May 13, 2016
Here are the other great athletes to wear number 13:
Kurt Warner, NFL QB, St. Louis Rams
Kurt Warner: From grocery store clerk to going undrafted to two-time NFL MVP and Super Bowl-winning quarterback with the St. Louis Rams, Warner's ranks as one of the great personal tales in league history. He threw for over 32,000 yards over 12 seasons, also made a Super Bowl with Arizona and happens to be the last quarterback other than Eli Manning to start a game for the Giants back in 2004.
Daily News
Don Maynard, WR, New York Jets
Don Maynard: Joe Namath's favorite target with the Jets, the Hall of Fame wide receiver still holds franchise records with 627 receptions, 11,732 receiving yards and 88 touchdowns in New York from 1960 through 1972. A member of the only Super Bowl titlists in Jets history, Maynard's No. 13 has been retired by Gang Green since 1973.
Daily News
Steve Nash, NBA, Phoenix Suns
Steve Nash: The Canadian-born point guard won back-to-back NBA MVP awards for the Phoenix Suns and was an eight-time NBA All-Star. Nash also finished with the third-most assists in league history (10,335) behind only John Stockton and Jason Kidd – and just ahead of another famous No. 13, former St. John's and Knicks star Mark Jackson.
Mats Sundin, NHL Center, Toronto Maple Leafs
NHL: Mats Sundin
Sundin proudly donned the No. 13 sweater for all three of his teams during his 18-year NHL career. The Swedish center starred primarily for the Toronto Maple Leafs, for whom he served as team captain for 11 seasons and became the franchise's all-time leader in goals and points.
Sundin never won a Stanley Cup but did win an Olympic gold medal for Sweden in 2006. Sure, he suffered some nasty injuries, including a broken orbital bone after being hit in the face with a puck, but was that because of his jersey number or just being a professional hockey player? The nine-time All-Star retired in 2009 with the most career points, goals and assists by a Swedish
player in the NHL.
ESPN
Lindsay Whalen, WNBA, Minnesota Lynx
WNBA: Lindsay Whalen
Point guard Lindsay Whalen proudly wears No. 13 for the Minnesota Lynx. The two-time WNBA All-Star has a long history with the number, as she wore it when she starred at the
University of Minnesota from 2000 to 2004. She led the school to its only Final Four appearance and graduated as Minnesota's all-time leading scorer, male or female. No Golden Gophers player will wear 13 again; the school retired her jersey number in January 2005.
ESPN
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