Jordan is the best there is and you have to honor him in some way. Most of the awards/symbols are already taken. There has to be a significant change or honor to the greatest player in the NBA ever.

#6? #6 should have been retired a long time ago.....Bill Russell...Dr. J.

I don't really care if they retire 23 league wide. If I'm an owner I don't want his jersey hanging in my house. He's the greatest that ever played, and he gets his respect anytime anybody says that. He doesn't need his jersey hanging from the top of my house. We don't honor the best team each year by hanging the champs banner in every other arena. If anything, I'd like to see them name the MVP trophy after him.

I agree, the MVP would be a good way to honor him. I like the idea of retiring 23--but I'm with you jpake, if they do it there is no need to hang it in every arena. Just an understood kind of thing, you don't have to hang it from the rafters. You can disagree with this all you want, but LeBron is right. Jordan deserves to be honored by something other than just the HOF.

And if they do this, there is no reason to retire anyone else's. Just because they retire 23 doesn't mean they should retire Russell's and Wilt's numbers. Then where does it stop? We're talking about the best player ever, not a handful of the best. THE best. No disrespect to Russell, Wilt or anyone else, but Jordan is the best ever. No one has changed the game of basketball like he has and I doubt if anyone else ever will. There may be a player down the road (could even be playing right now Kobe/LeBron/D-Wade) that has more rings and better numbers but they won't have changed the image of the game like Jordan did. It's like honoring Hendrix as one of the best guitarists of all time--he was DAMN good, but in reality probably not top 5 which is where many would rank him. But the impact he had goes a long way in earning him that respect.

jpake1 wrote: I don't really care if they retire 23 league wide. If I'm an owner I don't want his jersey hanging in my house. He's the greatest that ever played, and he gets his respect anytime anybody says that. He doesn't need his jersey hanging from the top of my house. We don't honor the best team each year by hanging the champs banner in every other arena. If anything, I'd like to see them name the MVP trophy after him.

While naming the MVP after MJ would be a nice gesture, it is a complete slap in the face to Kareem who has the most ever with 6. But then again Stern named the Finals MVP after Bill Russell, who by the way, never won a Finals MVP. I have always said retire 23 League wide. I don't know of any other honor that would suit his greatness on the floor and to the game of basketball. I don't think there is one to be honest.

i think he'll go to wherever offers him substantial amounts of cash. you wouldnt think he'd need it

"According to NBA rules, James has until March 5 to send a formal request to the league office to change his jersey number. That request, though, would be pertinent only if James re-signs with his hometown Cavs this summer. James is free to pick any available number if he signs with a new team for next season."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4650907

Soooooo I wonder if LeBron is going to send in a request to the league before the deadline...?

I don't care what the league rules state, I have a feeling that if Lebron wanted to change his number tomorrow it would get done. What is Stern going to tell him no? Absolutely not because it will only generate income for the league.

The NBA is not going to retire the number 23. Michael Jordan is not Jackie Robinson, nor did he have anywhere near that sort of impact that Jackie had. It is still debatable who the greatest of all time is. Wilt, Russell, Oscar Robertson, Jordan, Magic are all in the discussion but no one can agree that one is superior than all the rest.

And just because there are no other "great" players wearing 23 doesn't mean it should be retired either. If Lebron wants to do it to honor Jordan, fine. But the number is not going to be retired by the league.

I guess that means since all the Cavs/Lebron fans have his#23 jersey now they have to buy #6 jerseys! A whole new sales plan for more fans $$$$$$$$$

LBJ also changed his number to 6, which is the number worn by Bill Russell, among others.

Bill Russell did more for the NBA than that clown Michael Jordan.

^^^Dan Davis said this on ESPN radio, just minutes ago.

I totall agree with the statement but I'm too young to know what number Russell wore (and LBJ and I are the same age).

Russell did wear #6....Dan the Duke Davis should know. He's a long time Boston fan.

Society wrote: There are going to be a lot of disappointed people in Cleveland next year.

Cowan Coward's show today was all about LeBron leaving because....as he put it.... "Cleveland is a shithole."

We will have to wait and see, Coward, won't we?

dazedconfused wrote:

wildcats20 wrote:

dazedconfused wrote: boy, that is some dumbass reasoning for the change

What is?

Changing his number out of respect for the greatest basketball to have ever played the game is a dumbass reason? He said he thinks 23 should be retired throughout the League. It should be. He only wears the number because of MJ and now he wants to show his respect to him/the number by not wearing, I applaud him for it.

here's my beef with it...if you're changing it to coincide with your olympic number, then fine. but changing it to honor another player by not wearing that number seems dumb to me. what about russell and erving? they wore number 6, why not honor them by not wearing number 6? they were pretty good too
i'm also against retiring someone's jersey league wide just because they were "good." jordan's number should be retired in chicago and chicago alone. i, for one, do not want to see a red and black 23 hanging anywhere near the q rafters. what kind of message does that send to the late 80's/early 90's cavs teams that couldn't get past jordan in their pursuit of a championship? it'd be like, "sorry about your luck in not getting past jordan when you were playing...don't mind us while we retire jordan's bulls jersey and hang it in the rafters of your arena." (just imagine if mlb retired babe ruth's number league wide...how do you think people in boston or former red sox players would take to it?) doesn't make any sense. this is why jerseys should only be retired league wide if that person caused legitimate social change in their sport...i.e jackie robinson

Great post Dazed...very well put. Jordan has rightfully won many accolades. But he benefitted from people like Russell, Havlicek, Oscar Robertson and a whole bunch more...who never bacame rich playing basketball.

I recently read an interview with Sam Jones. For those that don't know, Sam Jones is a a Hall of Famer...and won all those titles with Russell. Sam said that he wanted to be a teacher as opposed to playing pro basketball. He wanted security and get this...the pay was about the same.

wildcats20 wrote:

jpake1 wrote: I don't really care if they retire 23 league wide. If I'm an owner I don't want his jersey hanging in my house. He's the greatest that ever played, and he gets his respect anytime anybody says that. He doesn't need his jersey hanging from the top of my house. We don't honor the best team each year by hanging the champs banner in every other arena. If anything, I'd like to see them name the MVP trophy after him.

While naming the MVP after MJ would be a nice gesture, it is a complete slap in the face to Kareem who has the most ever with 6. But then again Stern named the Finals MVP after Bill Russell, who by the way, never won a Finals MVP. I have always said retire 23 League wide. I don't know of any other honor that would suit his greatness on the floor and to the game of basketball. I don't think there is one to be honest.

Russell did win 5 MVP's for the season though...which is the same number as MJ.

I do agree with your post.

I say retire the number but leave it up to the organizations on whether they want to hang it or not.

I like his decision to change his number, it's respectful of MJ

Footwedge wrote:

dazedconfused wrote:

wildcats20 wrote:

dazedconfused wrote: boy, that is some dumbass reasoning for the change

What is?

Changing his number out of respect for the greatest basketball to have ever played the game is a dumbass reason? He said he thinks 23 should be retired throughout the League. It should be. He only wears the number because of MJ and now he wants to show his respect to him/the number by not wearing, I applaud him for it.

here's my beef with it...if you're changing it to coincide with your olympic number, then fine. but changing it to honor another player by not wearing that number seems dumb to me. what about russell and erving? they wore number 6, why not honor them by not wearing number 6? they were pretty good too
i'm also against retiring someone's jersey league wide just because they were "good." jordan's number should be retired in chicago and chicago alone. i, for one, do not want to see a red and black 23 hanging anywhere near the q rafters. what kind of message does that send to the late 80's/early 90's cavs teams that couldn't get past jordan in their pursuit of a championship? it'd be like, "sorry about your luck in not getting past jordan when you were playing...don't mind us while we retire jordan's bulls jersey and hang it in the rafters of your arena." (just imagine if mlb retired babe ruth's number league wide...how do you think people in boston or former red sox players would take to it?) doesn't make any sense. this is why jerseys should only be retired league wide if that person caused legitimate social change in their sport...i.e jackie robinson

Great post Dazed...very well put. Jordan has rightfully won many accolades. But he benefitted from people like Russell, Havlicek, Oscar Robertson and a whole bunch more...who never bacame rich playing basketball.

I recently read an interview with Sam Jones. For those that don't know, Sam Jones is a a Hall of Famer...and won all those titles with Russell. Sam said that he wanted to be a teacher as opposed to playing pro basketball. He wanted security and get this...the pay was about the same.

Jordan benefitted more from Bird and Magic than any of those older guys--who didn't benefit from those older guys as much as they did from media giants pouring money into television. And Jordan didn't get rich from playing basketball, compare his salaries to the ones they have now. He made a nice amount of money from his basketball salary, more than the average American for sure but not some off the charts amount. Jordan got rich from being a brand name.

I don't know where the notion that his number should hang in the rafters of every building came from but that's ridiculous. Just because you "retire" something doesn't mean you have to hang it in the rafters of every arena. They don't have to hang it anywhere, just be an understood thing.