Amath M’Baye has not always played with number 24. For example, in Oklahoma and in Japan he wore the jersey number 22. But 24 is the number he considers his own because it honors his late grandmother’s memory. 24 was her birthday.

M’Baye is not the first 24 in the history of Olimpia: Samardo Samuels wore the 24 for two years and with that number he won the 2014 championship. But it was a unique case.

The absolute novelty is the 28 that Patric Young will wear: the Florida star has always played wearing number 4 but it is a number generally considered taboo at Olmpia. According to the mythology of the club, on April 4, 1944, legendary President Adolfo Bogoncelli was diagnosed with polio. From that day on, he considered the 4 some sort of a forbidden figure. When the jersey numbers could not go beyond 15 – and later beyond 20 – that number was sometimes used and with excellent results (see Sasha Djordjevic) but with the numerical freedom of the last few years there is no reason for not respecting the club tradition. So Young had to give up number 4 and wear an unprecedented number, the 28 never used by anyone before.

Cory Jefferson will wear his traditional number 34 in Milan. “It’s a tradition, I always wore it – he says – and the only exception is my NBA experience when I used the 21 to honor of Isaiah Austin.”

This is a story deserving to be told: Austin was Jefferson’s teammate and friend at Baylor University. In 2014, both were eligible for the NBA Draft but Austin was diagnosed with Marfan’s syndrome a few days before the ceremony. Following the diagnosis, he had to quit immediately. To honor his former teammate, Jefferson decided to play with the number he wore at Baylor, number 21. Last year Austin was cleared to resume his basketball career again and after two years of absence he played in Serbia and is now in China. Jefferson has returned to his traditional number.

The 34 means a lot in Milan: it was the number wore by David Hawkins, one of the most popular players of the past decade, and more recently by David Moss who wore it for two years and with it won the 2014 championship.