Houston Rockets jersey history No. 5 - Billy Paultz (1980-83)

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The Houston Rockets have had players donning a total of 52 different jersey numbers (and have one not part of any numerical series for Houston assistant coach and general manager Carroll Dawson) since their founding at the start of the 1967-68 season, worn by just under 500 players in the course of Rockets history.

To honor all of the the players who wore those numbers over the decades, Rockets Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who wore them since the founding of the team all those years ago right up to the present day.

With seven of those jerseys now retired to honor some of the greatest Rockets of all time to wear those jerseys, there is a lot of history to cover.

And for today's article, we will continue with the first of 18 players who wore the No. 5, big man alum Billy Paultz. After ending his college career at St. John's, Paultz was picked up with the 103rd overall selection (there were many more rounds in that era of the draft) of the 1970 NBA Draft by the (then) San Diego (now, Houston) Rockets.

The River Edge, New Jersey native played the first five seasons of his pro career with ABA's (then) New York Americans (now, Brooklyn Nets) instead. He also played for the San Antonio Spurs before he was dealt to Houston in 1980. His stay with the team lasted until he was cut in 1983.

During his time suiting up for the Rockets, Paultz wore only jersey No. XXX and put up 5.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game.

All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.

This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Rockets jersey history No. 5 - Billy Paultz (1980-83)

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