As you watch him play basketball, you may notice that New Orleans guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker has several visual reminders that he’s a native of Toronto, including a depiction of the city’s famous CN Tower on his right arm. There’s also a Canadian flag and references to his street address as a youngster, among several other items.
By switching uniform numbers for the 2020-21 season, the 22-year-old now has arguably the most prominent acknowledgement of his birthplace, which is Canada’s largest metropolis (population 2.9 million). Known as “The Six” due to its area code of 416 and hip-hop star Drake popularizing that nickname by using it in his songs, Toronto is one element of why Alexander-Walker opted for a new uniform number, as he explained in the first edition of Pelicans.