During his time suiting up for the Sonics, Hayes wore only jersey No. 41 and put up 1.3 points and 1.4 rebounds per game.
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 39th jersey number in the series, jersey No. 41, with five players in total having donned the jersey in the history of the franchise.
The third of those players who did so in the Seattle SuperSonics era, big man alum Steve Hayes. After ending his college career at Idaho State, Hayes was picked up with the 76th overall selection (there were many more rounds in that era of the draft) of the 1977 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks.
The American Falls, Idaho native spent four seasons playing abroad or in other domestic leagues before signing with the San Antonio Spurs in 1981. He would also play for the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers before signing with Seattle in 1983.
His stay with the team would span a single season, coming to an end when he was cut in 1984. During his time suiting up for the Sonics, Hayes wore only jersey No. 41 and put up 1.3 points and 1.4 rebounds per game.
All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Thunder jersey history No. 41 - Steve Hayes (1983-84)
Category: Basketball
