Lebron to NBA: Retire MJ’s #23

LeBron James is willing to change his number for the great Jordan

by: Cole Riley

In his usual post-game interview on court, LeBron James on Thursday night had a bold statement for TNT. With Michael Jordan looking on from the front row, James said that “no NBA player should wear [Jordan’s] 23.” James continued on, “Now, if I’m not going to wear No. 23, then nobody else should be able to wear it” (ESPN.com).

Coming off a decisive road win versus the Miami Heat, along with putting up 34 points and impressing his childhood idol, James stirred up the media scene, and the NBA brass by bringing this idea to the public. But I for one have a few problems with this whole retiring numbers business.

If the NBA does decide to retire Jordan’s No. 23, then they must at least retire Larry Bird’s and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s No. 33, Bill Russell’s No. 6, Wilt Chamberlain’s No. 13, and Magic Johnson’s No. 32. At that point it just gets out of hand. How can someone say that Michael Jordan did more for the game than Bill Russell did if No. 23 is retired?

In 1997 the MLB retired Jackie Robinson’s No. 42, and in 2000, Wayne Gretzky’s No. 99 was retired by the NHL. Those two figures are obvious standouts in their respective sports. Robinson, who broke the color barrier in the MLB, and Gretzky who is still, even though retired, the face of NHL, both deserve those numbers to be retired. However I wouldn’t mind those sports considering retiring other numbers.

With the NBA, if they want to open up the can of worms and retire Jordan’s 23, then they better be prepared to back it up by committing to other NBA all-time greats.