Sports

Larry Nance Jr. to wear his dad's retired No. 22 with Cavs

23 of February 2018

FILE - In this Feb. 17, 2018, file photo, Cleveland Cavaliers' Larry Nance Jr. competes in the slam dunk contest, part of the NBA basketball All-Star weekend in Los Angeles. Nance has run into an unexpected snag since joining the Cavaliers. “Trying to convince my mom that I'm not living at home," he said, smiling. "We're out looking for rental properties and stuff like that and she's like, 'Oh, our basement is pretty nice.' That's probably been the toughest thing." Nance wore his dad’s Phoenix jersey and replicated the same dunk Larry Nance Sr. did while winning the inaugural dunk contest in 1984. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File),FILE - In this Feb. 17, 2018, file photo, Cleveland Cavaliers' Larry Nance Jr. competes in the slam dunk contest, part of the NBA basketball All-Star weekend in Los Angeles. Nance has run into an unexpected snag since joining the Cavaliers. “Trying to convince my mom that I'm not living at home," he said, smiling. "We're out looking for rental properties and stuff like that and she's like, 'Oh, our basement is pretty nice.' That's probably been the toughest thing." Nance wore his dad’s Phoenix jersey and replicated the same dunk Larry Nance Sr. did while winning the inaugural dunk contest in 1984. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. will wear his father's retired No. 22 jersey with the Cavaliers. The younger Nance was recently acquired in a trade from the Los Angeles Lakers and is wearing No. 24 for Cleveland. But starting next week he will wear No. 22, the number his dad wore for eight seasons with Cleveland. Larry Nance Jr. said getting the chance to wear his father's number is beyond a dream come true. The Cavs worked with the league and Nike to make the jersey switch possible.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Larry Nance Jr. will wear his father’s retired No. 22 with the Cavaliers.

The forward announced Thursday night that the NBA has worked it out so he can switch from No. 24 to his dad’s No. 22 starting next week. Nance Jr. was recently acquired by Cleveland in a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Nance Jr. said he’s thrilled to have the chance to honor his father, who spent eight seasons with the Cavs. A team spokesman said the league understood the special circumstances surrounding the number and its significance to the Nance family and agreed the change should take place.

Larry Nance Sr.’s jersey was retired by the Cavs in 1995.

The younger Nance wore his father’s No. 22 Phoenix jersey last weekend when he participated in the dunk contest at the All-Star Game. Nance Jr. joked that he also plans to wear tight shorts and high white socks the rest of this season.

___

More AP NBA: apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball