New Chicago Bulls guard Michael Carter-Williams originally chose to wear the no. 1 on his uniform in the upcoming season, but after the uproar caused by a player choosing to wear the number of former MVP Derrick Rose, he’ll wear a different jersey next season according to a report.
That report, from CSN Chicago’s Chuck Garfien, says that Carter-Williams has decided to wear the no. 7 jersey for the Bulls instead this season. According to Garfien, Carter-Williams didn’t want to cause a big stir with his choice of jersey, so he instead chose to wear a different number from the one that Rose wore during his time with the Bulls.
Carter-Williams, who was acquired by the Bulls in a trade on Monday, wore no. 1 while he was playing collegiate ball at Syracuse and continued to wear the number with his first NBA team, the Philadelphia 76’ers. Due to his success with the number, he wanted to wear it in Chicago, and while the Bulls apparently approved of the move, fans of the team seemingly did not.
Rose, who was drafted by the Bulls with the number one overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, played for eight years with the Bulls and won the NBA MVP Award with the team during the 2010-11 season. During his career in Chicago, Rose averaged 19.7 points and 6.2 assists per game, but he was traded away to the New York Knicks in June as the team looked to get younger and faster.
