Ron Harper chose jersey no. 9 because of Michael Jordan

Ron Harper visits the newly open second NBA Store in the Philippines on Friday. Photo by Nikka Valenzuela/INQUIRER

From a potential All-Star to a vital role player, Ron Harper had an NBA career can only dream of.

He won three championships with the Chicago Bulls from 1996-1998 and another two with the Los Angeles Lakers at the turn of the millennium.

Still, even a player of Harper’s caliber could not help but honor the Greatest of All Time Michael Jordan.

“I recalled MJ wore jersey no. 9 when he played for the United States team, so I went for no. 9,” Harper said Friday at SM Megamall during the opening of the second NBA Store in the Philippines.

Harper added he initially wanted to wear no. 4, the jersey number he wore during his big-scoring years with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Clippers, but Chicago legend Jerry Sloan wore the number during his time with the Bulls.

“It was retired in Chicago,” Harper said of Sloan, then the coach the Utah Jazz.

Harper settled for jersey no. 2 during his first four preseason games with the Bulls but team staff advised to find another “because most of the players wore jersey no. 2 weren’t there long.”