Brooklyn Nets jersey history No. 20 - Johnny Baum (1971-73)

USA Today

24-06-2025

The Brooklyn Nets have 52 jersey numbers worn by over 600 different players over the course of their history since the franchise was founded in 1967 as a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA), when the team was known as the "New Jersey Americans".
Since then, that league has been absorbed by the NBA with the team that would later become the New York Nets and New Jersey Nets before settling on the name by which they are known today, bringing their rich player and jersey history with them to the league of today.
To commemorate the players who played for the Nets over the decades wearing those 52 different jersey numbers, Nets Wire is covering the entire history of the franchise's jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. The 21st of those 52 different numbers is jersey No. 20, which has has had a total of 28 players wear the number in the history of the team.
The sixth of those players wearing No. 20 played in the (then) New York (now, Brooklyn) Nets era, forward alum Johnny Baum. After ending his college career at Temple, Baum was picked up with the 23rd overall selection of the 1969 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls.
The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native would play the first two seasons of his pro career with the Bulls. He would sign with the ABA's Nets in 1971, his stay with New York spanning parts of two seasons. It came to an end when he was dealt to the (defunct) Memphis Tams in 1973,
During his time suiting up for the Nets, Baum wore only jersey No. 20 and put up 6.7 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.
All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.