# Fiendish old-timey basketball question: Purple jersey #43

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiendish-old-timey-basketball-question-purple-jersey-43/590694>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [July 29, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiendish-old-timey-basketball-question-purple-jersey-43/590694 "2011-07-29T02:38:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiendish-old-timey-basketball-question-purple-jersey-43/590694/1 "2011-07-29T02:38:46Z")

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What prominent 1960s (possibly–but not for sure) era Black NBA player wore a purple(ish) jersey with #43? This is actually a GQ, but I thought it stood a better chance in this forum. Anyone???

And, no, it’s not homework.

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**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiendish-old-timey-basketball-question-purple-jersey-43/590694/2 "2011-07-29T02:48:17Z")

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Looking at the Lakers’ all-time roster, the only one who may fit your criteria is Earl Tatum. However, he played in the late 1970s and wasn’t very prominent. I didn’t bother looking at any other NBA team’s roster, because the Lakers are the end-all be-all of basketball. 🙂

[http://www.google.com/search?q=Earl%20Tatum&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1280&bih=869](http://www.google.com/search?q=Earl%20Tatum&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1280&bih=869)

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**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiendish-old-timey-basketball-question-purple-jersey-43/590694/3 "2011-07-29T14:16:24Z")

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[Checked here](http://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/numbers.cgi?number=43&year=) and didn’t see anyone that I recognized.

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiendish-old-timey-basketball-question-purple-jersey-43/590694/4 "2011-07-29T15:14:38Z")

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Thank you. I’m guessing Tatum is the man, then.