Newly-minted New York Knicks rookie Obi Toppin will have a lot of eyes on him when he plays at Madison Square Garden. Today we found out what number will be called when he steps onto the court.
According to Steve Popper of NewsDay, Toppin signed his contract with the Knicks today and promptly decided on his jersey. Per the report, he will be wearing the No. 1 for the Knicks.
Naturally, jokes are pouring in about “Obi-One” – a play on words for the Star Wars character Obi-wan Kenobi. Even Popper couldn’t help but crack a joke at how popular his jerseys will be on the Knicks’ annual Star Wars Night.
Toppin wore No. 1 at Dayton, where he led the Flyers in scoring for two straight seasons. He was a two-time Atlantic 10 All-First Team selection, Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year. In 2020, he was a consensus First-Team All-American and the National College Player of the Year.
Yes, a lot of money to be made on Star Wars Night when they sell the Obi-1 jerseys.
— Steve Popper (@StevePopper) November 23, 2020
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The Knicks No. 1 jersey was most recently worn by Bobby Portis, but has rarely been worn by a player for a long period of time. Per Basketball-Reference.com, Amar’e Stoudemire and Chris Childs are the only Knicks players to have worn it for more than three seasons.
New York drafted Toppin No. 8 overall hoping that he can be the high-scoring power forward they’ve lacked since Carmelo Anthony.
Expectations are going to be high for Toppin – as they always are for the Knicks. It would be nice to see if he can help bring them back to respectability after so many years struggling.
The post Obi Toppin Decides On His Knicks Jersey Number appeared first on The Spun.
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