Valencia Basket men's team players choose their jersey numbers for the 2025-26 season

Valencia Basket men’s team players have chosen their jersey numbers for the 2025-26 season with few surprises. The returning players are keeping the same numbers they wore last season, while most of the six new signings have found their usual or favorite numbers available.

Captain Josep Puerto will reach his tenth season with the first team, keeping the #2 he has worn for the last five campaigns since joining the professional roster. Jaime Pradilla will begin his sixth season at Valencia Basket wearing #4, Xabi López-Arostegui enters his fifth season with #6 on his back, and Nate Reuvers will play a third consecutive season with #3.

Those who were promoted to the first team last year have also stuck with their numbers: Brancou Badio keeps #0, Sergio de Larrea #5, Jean Montero #8, Ethan Happ #22, Matt Costello #24, and Nate Sestina #77.

The new arrivals focused their choices on the lower numbers, which means all numbers between #0 and #13 are now taken, except for those retired in honor of Sam Van Rossom (#9) and Nacho Rodilla (#11). Kameron Taylor was the one who had to deviate most from his usual picks. Favoring single-digit numbers, he found his past choices already taken: the #6 he wore at Unicaja, the #7 he used in Israel, France, and Germany, and the #5 from his college days and later Girona. So, he opted for the only remaining single-digit number when it was his turn—#1.

Yankuba Sima’s Liga Endesa career has been tied to #77, which he wore at Unicaja and previously adopted in Manresa, due to the arrival of Rafa Martínez. But Nate Sestina already owns that number at Valencia Basket, and with #17 also unavailable, Sima has chosen #7, which he wore in Venice.

Omari Moore did find his preferred number, #10, available—the same he wore in college and last season at Darussafaka—so his choice was straightforward. Darius Thompson couldn’t go for his favorite, #15, which he is currently wearing with the Italian national team, but he had #13 available, the number he used in recent seasons at Lokomotiv Kuban, Baskonia, and Anadolu Efes.

That decision prevented Neal Sako from keeping the number he wore last season at LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, so he went one step back and chose #12 for his Valencia jersey. Isaac Nogués, a declared Magic Johnson fan, has opted for #32, which he already wore as a senior with Joventut’s reserve team and during his stint in Huesca.