By now I’m sure most of you have heard that Lebron James feels EVERY NBA player that currently wears #23 should change their numbers, and the NBA should retire the number to honor Micheal Jordon. Really? Why? Micheal Jordan has made over $500 million dollars with NBA contracts, and endorsements. I’m of the opinion the NBA has already done more then enough for Micheal Jordon.
This is part of his interview that I have the most problem with.
“There would be no LeBron James, no Kobe Bryant, no Dwyane Wade, you name all the best players in the league right now and the last 10 years, there would be none of us without Michael Jordan”
And without players like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Wilt Chamberlain (just to name a few) there would have been no Micheal Jordon. The above mentioned players numbers have not been retired by the NBA. They have been retired by the teams they played for, as Jordon’s number has by the Bulls. I’m wondering if this movement has anything to do with the fact that Micheal Jordon was in the stands for last nights Cavs / Heat game?
James later goes on to say he will change his number to 6 at the end of the season, in honor of the number he wore in the Olympics. Bill Russell (former Celtic great) wore the number 6, and for the record that number has not been retired by the NBA either (has been retired by the Celtics). Considering the fact that Bill Russell played during a very race hostile time in this country, I would think that should move him to the front of the line for numbers being retired by the NBA. If we measure a players worth by championships won, then Russell needs to grow an extra finger to sport the 11 championship rings he has.
Every era is going to have its own legends, in any given sport. This is why I have such a problem with these *Greatest Of All Time* lists. Yes Micheal Jordon helped to elevate the popularity of the NBA. For anyone 30 years old or younger, Micheal Jordon is the NBA. However you can not discredit what other players have done, nor can people continue to place Micheal Jordon on this God like pedestal . He was a tremendous player, that made traveling an art form. He took merchandising to a whole new level. Every player wanted to be like Mike, why not be like themselves instead?
There has only been two players in the history of professional sports to ever have their numbers retired by the sport. One being Wayne Gretzky and the other being Jackie Robinson. Gretzky was the GREATEST player to ever put on a pair of skates, and Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play in Major League Baseball. Does James really want to put Micheal Jordon’s resume up against those two??
5 responses so far ↓
1 lajitas // Nov 13, 2009 at 9:02 pm
If I wrote what I am thinking right now, I’d be labeled a racist, I’m sure. But James needs to put the crack down. Michael Jordan was obviously a great player. But he was great in part to the way the NBA (refs in particular) treated him. The NBA needed a spark as Magic and Bird got old. Jordan provided the spark, and the NBA knew it. They allowed him to travel like a door to door salesman from the fifties. He could stick a jumper with the best of them (provided the defender got close enough to get pushed away by Jordan, thank you Craig Ehlo and John Stockton). So did Jordan do a lot for the NBA? Hell yes. Did he do more than people like George Mikan or Oscar Robertson? How about Bill Russell and John Havlicek? Now some of you are too young to have seen these guys play, and truth be known they probably weren’t as athletic as the modern players, but they were still damn good basketball players. Of coarse, they played in a time where you actually had to dribble the ball, and there wasn’t the running game there is today. But in a sense, James is saying that these guys ain’t hittin’ on la de da. I disagree. I think it would be a tremendous show of disrespect to all that played before him to single out one player this way. By the way, Jason, remember how agrivated I’d get when we shot hoops in the driveway and you’d holler out “Jordan” every time you threw one up?? Thought I’d forget that, eh? Napes, bro. I guess I’m getting too old, but today’s players really turn me off. I could give a rat’s ass about the NBA, or what happens to it. Wonder what Chuck Barkley thinks of this idea? At least he respected the history of the game.
2 silent E // Nov 14, 2009 at 9:36 am
One of your best posts!!!! I’m a HUGE Jordan fan but the idea of retiring his number on a global scale in the NBA… Bad idea. I would love to hear someone try to challenge your logic here. I can’t be done…….
.-= silent E´s last blog ..Friday Op/Ed: Explaining Away Mass Murder =-.
3 Liverdamage // Nov 14, 2009 at 10:52 am
The NBA should retire the number 15 in honor of the greatest player ever: Brad Davis!
4 Ick // Nov 14, 2009 at 7:12 pm
@ Lajitas – I was like 11 when I was doing that, stop living in the past! LOL
@ Silent E – James is just trying to boost his jersey sales. Kobe did the same thing a few years back.
@ Liverdamage – Brad Davis? Really? *shakes head*
5 Praise And Worship CD // May 25, 2010 at 11:15 pm
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