Josh Hart was missed in Los Angeles when he returned for the first time after being traded — or so he thought.

Now in New Orleans as part of a blockbuster trade that sent star Anthony Davis to the Lakers in 2019, Hart was moseying around the warm streets of Southern California during his off time. While on his walk, the former No. 3 for the Lakers saw a civilian bearing the colors and number that he once wore coming toward him.

Naturally, Hart felt loved.

“I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s dope!’” Hart, now with the Knicks, recalls. “They got my jersey, still showing love.”

Then, a few steps later, that feeling dissolved. Love transitioned into an embarrassing internal laugh. Hart can tell you why.

“I looked and it said ‘Davis’ on the back,” Hart said with a smile. “I was thinking, ‘Ah, yeah. I forgot Anthony Davis wore No. 3.’ They moved on from me.”

One of the greatest feelings for a professional athlete is getting their own jersey. You can see it on every player’s face the moment they’re drafted. That look as they raise it for the first time, examining it and taking it in. A jersey with their name on the back means they made it. The hard work paid off. The dream is a reality. Families are taken care of. These players grew up wearing the jerseys of their favorite athletes. Now, they are the favorite athletes.

At the same time, the feeling of seeing someone wear your jersey can equally warm the heart. Fans can choose anyone, but they chose you. That’s why Hart felt the warmth when he thought he saw his jersey in Los Angeles.

Some players recall seeing someone wear their jersey for the first time. Some don’t. All appreciate it each time they see it, though.

“The first time I saw a fan wear my jersey was in New York,” Jalen Brunson said. “That was pretty cool.”

Even though he’s been the face of a franchise for several years and was a college basketball star, it still tugs on Brunson’s heartstrings to see someone wearing his jersey. The first time he remembers seeing it was when his “sister or wife” showed up one day with his high school jersey.

In the NBA, Brunson was a decorated college player, but he still ended up being a second-round pick by Dallas. He became a Maverick at the same time as Luka Dončić, so that’s where the fans’ money went. Dončić and No. 41 Dirk Nowitzki jerseys filled the streets of Dallas. Once Brunson got to New York, though, he quickly became “The Captain” of The Mecca. Now out of the shadows of Dončić, who is a close friend, Brunson established himself as one of the league’s best guards and a savior for one of the sport’s most tortured fan bases.

New York became filled with Brunson jerseys, as did Madison Square Garden, “The world’s most famous arena.” Brunson takes it all in. However, it’s not just seeing his jersey on the backs of others that gets to him, it’s seeing the jerseys of his friends.

“This summer, I was walking down on the boardwalk and I saw a kid wearing a Josh Hart shirt,” Brunson said. “He had no idea who I was. I just showed him the phone with Josh. He was like, “Oh my god, Josh Hart.’ Then I walked away. Ten seconds later, he realized it was me.

“It’s cool seeing, not just me, but seeing Josh, Mikal (Bridges) and guys you obviously worked hard with from a young age. Even seeing (Donte) DiVincenzo jerseys around. It’s really cool.”

Miles McBride was in New York the day after the Knicks acquired him in the 2021 NBA Draft. With his head turning from one side to the other as he observed the chaotic yet controlled streets of the place he’d now call home, the West Virginia guard saw someone wearing a jersey with the same colors as the Mountaineers.

McBride was a distance away, so he stared more intently. What he saw was correct. Someone was, in fact, wearing a West Virginia jersey. Upon further review, McBride also saw that it was a No. 4 jersey, and the back bore his last name.

“That was probably the coolest thing I’ve seen,” McBride said. “That was crazy.”

Despite being a first-round pick by the Celtics in 2016, Guerschon Yabusele spent that year overseas, playing in China for the Shanghai Sharks. The French-born Yabusele didn’t know what to expect when he touched down. He wasn’t sure if people even knew who he was.

However, after his first game in China, Yabusele was exiting the floor when he was asked to sign a jersey. It was a standard, Shanghai Sharks jersey. Blue and orange. Yabusele remembers thinking nothing of it. He assumed it was of someone else, maybe a former player who was a club legend.

Yabusele proceeded to grab the jersey and the marker that was handed to him by the fan. He looked over the jersey in his hand and saw the number, which was 16. He remembers thinking, “That’s my number.” He turned it over and saw his last name, in Chinese lettering.

Yabusele, who played professionally in France, had met people before who owned his jersey. It wasn’t often, but it happened. Of course, it meant a lot to Yabusele that his own people supported him as a teenager, but seeing it in China, just after being drafted to an NBA club, unsure of where his career would take him, that hit the soul a little differently.

“It was a different type of joy because it’s around the world,” Yabusele said. “China is so far from France. That’s when it really hit me and I was very happy about what I was doing, just seeing those kids excited to see me at the end of the game.”