LAS VEGAS — When the 76ers face the Indiana Pacers in Saturday’s Summer League matchup, they will see a familiar face in Alex Reese.
With his unconventional — and meaningful — jersey number.
Reese, a power forward who played in 14 games for the Sixers on a two-way contract during the 2024-25 season, is again wearing No. 65 with the Pacers’ Summer League team. Those digits are more often associated with football offensive linemen than NBA players. But last July, Reese shared with The Inquirer and Philly Voice that he chose the number because it aligns with the birth year of his mother, Rebakah, and continues to honor her after she died in 2024 from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
“It just helps me think of her when I’m playing,” Reese said then from the Sixers’ practice facility, days before the team waived him before this story could run during Las Vegas Summer League. “It makes it easy for me to look down and see why I’m doing what I’m doing.”
Reese did not always have a specific jersey number that he coveted. But while scanning the limited options upon joining the Rip City Remix, the G League affiliate of the Portland Trail Blazers, 65 instantly caught his eye. He felt the connection between it and his mother while she fought the debilitating cognitive disease. Rebakah died with two games remaining in that first season he wore it.
“Now I have a reason to keep it,” he said.
Reese described his mom as “super sweet” and said she “loved everybody.” She drove him to baseball practices and games across the Southeast from their home near Birmingham, Ala., then to the gym or playground courts for workouts once basketball became his sport of choice.
Reese became a star at Pelham High School in Pelham, Ala. and signed with the University of Alabama in 2017. Rebakah was diagnosed just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, while Alex was rehabbing after hip surgery during a “really tough” summer. She still made the short trip to Tuscaloosa for college games — and, more importantly, his 2021 graduation.
“That was a big day for us,” Reese said.
After he went undrafted, Reese took a year off from basketball to return home to spend time with Mom and his support system, including brothers Nate and Zach, Brian, his father, and extended family and friends. He worked jobs such as laying sod, moving furniture, and bartending.
“I needed it,” Reese said. “I didn’t know if I was going to make the push to try to play professionally. Once I took the year off, got my mindset a little bit better, and got back into it after I worked a couple jobs that I don’t want to work anymore.”
He went overseas to play in Luxembourg, then found opportunity in the G League. He wore No. 15 in his NBA debut with the Oklahoma City Thunder, scoring two points in less than two minutes in October 2024. After returning to the Remix, he signed a two-way contract with the Sixers in February 2025 and remained with the team for the rest of the season.
By the time Reese chose No. 65, Rebakah was past the point that she could understand what the gesture meant. He has seen the perplexed comments from fans over the years about his choice, assuring that they “[don’t] bother me at all.” He has shared his reason for the number with a handful of Portland teammates, and with Sixers teammates such as Justin Edwards.
He honored her in 14 NBA games with the Sixers. And 65 remains his number of choice, including in Saturday’s Summer League matchup.
Because it is not unconventional to him. It means everything.
“I obviously wish she was here to see it,” Reese said, “and see where I’ve made it now.”
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