For all seven years of his NBA career, Nicolas Batum has worn the number 88, but it was never his first choice. It was his seventh choice, actually. Back in March, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian interviewed each member of the Portland Trail Blazers about why they selected their jersey number, and Batum indicated that his first choice would have been the number five, which his mother picked for him as a youth in France. Since it was unavailable, he chose the number 88 to represent his birth year.
The story behind why Nicolas Batum wears No.