Should the NBA retire the #23?

[Onez]

if #23 gets retired, #33 and #6 shouldnt be far behind

And #32 (Magic Johnson) and #14 (Oscar Robertson) and a bunch more.

[SuperNova854]

I say no. Retiring numbers should be strictly for teams.

[dave]

To honor the greatest player to ever play the game? I'm okay with that.

That's arguable.

Jordan the league's greatest marketable player, but to put him above Chamberlain, Russell, Abdul-Jabbar or Magic is just you remembering him because you couldn't remember the others.

Jordan a great, great player no doubt ... but the best of all time? Maybe, maybe not.

The only two pro athletes worthy of a league-wide number retirement - Jackie Robinson and Wayne Gretzky.

[stevsta]

How about keeping Basketball alive?

Jordan was a big part of Basketball not dying out.

??????

lol how was it him and not the generation before him

there was a lot of other players playing during that time rondo lapse in judgement im guessing

[James2Stapleton]

The NHL and the MLB retired numbers
I dont see why the NBA shouldnt

I wonder what LeBron would wear

[Prodigal Son]

The NHL and the MLB retired numbers
I dont see why the NBA shouldnt

I wonder what LeBron would wear

The NHL retired a jersey of a guy who was by far the most dominant offensive force in NHL history. He broke every scoring record in the NHL. Only one player even had seasons that were close to Gretzky's and that was Lemieux. 9 of the top 11 scoring seasons in NHL history are held by Gretzky. Lemiux holding the 5th and 9th spot.

MLB retired Jackie's # for obvious reasons.

While Jordan was dominant, his dominance was not on the level of Gretzky. The #'s Jordan put up have been seen before, and will be seen again. The #'s Gretzky put up, were never seen before, and will probably be never seen again.

[stevsta]

I assume you're talking about Magic / Bird, and the Lakers Celtics rivalry.

Magic / Bird put life back into the NBA, but to say Jordan didn't have a part in it either is ridiculous. I wasn't saying Jordan brought the NBA back on his own, but he had a part in it.

Jordan made the dunk contest exciting, and every game he played in was an event. Love him or Hate him, everyone wanted to watch him play.

Im not trying to say jordan didnt help basketball but there were other players who could of filled the void jordan was great, awesome etc etc but what he did cant really be compared to what jackie robinson did for baseball or what wayne bought to hockey*well maybe what wayne did with hockey

[stevsta]

I assume you're talking about Magic / Bird, and the Lakers Celtics rivalry.

Magic / Bird put life back into the NBA, but to say Jordan didn't have a part in it either is ridiculous. I wasn't saying Jordan brought the NBA back on his own, but he had a part in it.

Jordan made the dunk contest exciting, and every game he played in was an event. Love him or Hate him, everyone wanted to watch him play.

Im not trying to say jordan didnt help basketball but there were other players who could of filled the void jordan was great, awesome etc etc but what he did cant really be compared to what jackie robinson did for baseball or what wayne bought to hockey*well maybe what wayne did with hockey J/K of course lol

[DoubleDeuce]

I say no. I don't even agree with teams retiring numbers, let alone an entire league. There are other ways to honor a player than by retiring his number.

[SHOGUN]

No way. Michael Jordan was not a pioneer like Jackie Robinson was.

[Woy]

And #32 (Magic Johnson) and #14 (Oscar Robertson) and a bunch more.

And then in 2067, you'll see players wearing numbers like #145 and #104.

[JeremyHight]

No... just no. Let teams retire numbers and the league can retire a number if it is something groundbreaking.

[Maestro]

No

Just because its Jordan, what about retiring Bill Russell's jersey, he's won more rings than anyone, even Kareem's, since hes scored more points than anyone.

[BUCK3YE5]

wont happen cuz LeBron is the NBA pretty much...

[BUCK3YE5]

truedat JBalla