The Golden State Warriors have had over 600 players don the more than 60 jersey numbers used by their players over the more than 75 years of existence the team has enjoyed in its rich and storied history.

Founded in 1946 during the Basketball Association of America (BAA — a precursor league of the NBA) era, the team has called home the cities of Philadelphia, San Francisco, Oakland, and even San Diego.

 To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Warriors Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. For this article, we begin with the ninth of 29 players who wore the No. 20 jersey for the Warriors.

That player would be Golden State guard alum Michael Ray Richardson. After ending his college career at Montana, Richardson was picked up with the fourth overall selection of the 1978 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks.

The Lubbock, Texas native would play the first four seasons of his pro career with the Knicks before he was dealt to the Dubs in 1982. His stay with the team would span just 33 games, coming to an end when he was traded to the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets in 1983.

During his time suiting up for the Warriors, Richardson wore only jersey No. 20 and put up 12.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and 3.1 steals per game.

All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.

This article originally appeared on Warriors Wire: Warriors jersey history – No. 20 – Michael Ray Richardson (1982-83)

The Oklahoma City Thunder (and the Seattle Supersonics before them) have 51 jersey numbers worn by the players who have suited up for the franchise since its founding at the start of the 1967-68 season. To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Thunder Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team.

And while those Supersonics jerseys may not remain part of the franchise history should a new team be established in Seattle as was the case with the return of the Charlotte Hornets, they are part of the Thunder’s history today.

For this article, we continue with the 35th jersey number in the series, jersey No. 35, with 11 players in total having donned the jersey in the history of the franchise.

The first of those players did so in the Oklahoma City Thunder era, guard alum PJ Dozier. After ending his college career at South Carolina, Dozier would go unselected in the 2017 NBA Draft, instead signing with the Thunder.

The Columbia, South Carolina native would play the first season of his pro career with OKC, signing a two way deal with the Boston Celtics in 2018.

During his time suiting up for the Thunder, Dozier wore only jersey No. 35 and put up 1.o points per game.

All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Thunder jersey history No. 35 – PJ Dozier (2018-19)

Roki Sasaki was back on the mound at Dodger Stadium on Friday, though it remains to be seen when his next trip will be.

The Los Angeles Dodgers rookie threw a three-inning simulated game, with 46 pitchers against outfielder Alex Call and some of the team’s minor leaguers. Per Dodger Blue, his fastball velocity reached 96-97 mph, with some 95 mph pitches as well.

Sasaki has been on the injured list since mid-May with a right-shoulder impingement. It was unclear if he would pitch again this season, but he’s now trending toward a return late in the season.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the sim game that the team was still figuring out if Sasaki’s next step is a rehab assignment or another sim game. He praised Sasaki’s delivery as looking cleaner, while also noting that he was still figuring some things out:

He’s more physical, I know he’s gained some weight. The throw wasn’t as shoulder-y, I think it’s a little bit more clean. He was still kind of searching, as far as asking the pitching coaches and things, and that’s what people do. We’re waiting for him to get to a point where he feels really comfortable and confident in his delivery and where he’s at, so he can attack the hitters. We’re not there yet, but I thought for a three-inning situation, solid.”

Sasaki joined the Dodgers last offseason as one of the most-hyped young arms in recent memory and the NL Rookie of the Year favorite, but the results lagged far behind the expectations in his first eight starts with the team.

Beyond the question of when he comes back is how different of a pitcher he will be. He had two major problems in his first run: an enormous lack of control and a fastball that hitters crushed when he did manage to land it in the zone (they slugged .494 against it in total). His 14.3% walk rate would be the worst of any qualified pitcher in MLB this season, and his 15.6% strikeout rate would be the fourth-worst.

At an average of 96.0 mph, Sasaki’s fastball wasn’t quite the triple-digit monster he showed back in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, when he threw 26 of his 29 fastballs for at least 100 mph. That velocity was trending down as well, with an average of 94.8 mph in his last two starts.

This has been a concern for Sasaki for a while, as his velocity was down last year too and he reportedly asked basically every team interested in him why they thought that happened. He will almost certainly be trying to throw harder when he comes back, and he will also reportedly be throwing a new fastball.

As Roberts said Thursday, Sasaki has spent some of his rehab time working on a two-seam fastball:

“I think it’s probably a combination of the pitching coaches, probably watching Shohei, probably watching Major League hitters,” Roberts said. “To have two separate fastballs, one that potentially could miss a bit and one that could put a ball on the ground, those are two good weapons.

“I appreciate that Roki is open to the two-seamer as well.”

Sasaki has a fairly limited arsenal, with a four-seamer, slider and his famous splitter, which remained effective during his struggles. We’ll see if he’s ready to deploy it in games as he nears a return, and if it’s the missing piece that could unlock his still sky-high potential.