Nuggets’ Aaron Gordon Changing His Number to Pay Tribute to His Late Brother

Aaron Gordon is making a big change to pay tribute to his late brother.

The Denver Nuggets forward’s older brother, Drew, died in a car accident on May 30 in Oregon. He was only 33 years old. The younger Gordon has announced he will change his jersey number from 50 to 32 to honor his late brother.

Drew Gordon went undrafted in 2012 after playing for both UCLA and New Mexico in college. He wore No. 32 with the Lobos. Gordon played overseas for most of his career, but did play nine games for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2014, and played in the G League with the Delaware 87ers during the 2014-15 season and for the Long Island Nets during the 2018-19 campaign.

Gordon was a star at New Mexico and earned first-team All-Mountain West Conference honors as a senior in 2012. During that season he averaged 13.7 points and 11.1 rebounds per game, and was named MVP of the Mountain West Conference tournament.

While overseas, Gordon won the 2014 Italian Cup with Dinamo Sassari, was a French League All-Star in 2016 when playing for Champagne Chalons-Reims, and was a Russian League All-Star in 2018 as a member of Zenit. He announced his retirement from professional basketball in July of 2023.

Aaron Gordon has worn No. 50 since being traded from the Orlando Magic to the Denver Nuggets during the 2020-21 season. He previously wore No. 00 with the Magic.