LeBron Wants NBA to Retire the Number 23

@ Myles Brown: In one of your posts, you say Jordan has an ironclad case as the greatest player ever, but in that same post you go on to detail a list of TRUTHFUL & VALID reasons why Jordan is NOT the greatest ever… which HE IS NOT. Good job on that! Even better job of contradicting yourself. How can you call him the greatest ever in the same post where you legitimately prove HE IS NOT??? Make that make sense!
It’s like fight fans who try to degrade Roy Jones Jr.’s dominance because the weight class he fought in for years wasn’t as strong as it was a decade or so earlier. You can’t penalise him & his legacy for that because the fighter can’t help when they’re born & what era their careers take place in.
Also, you can’t heap tons of additional praise on a guy, like people do with Michael Jordan, becasue he played in an era where globalization & global marketing were viable options, due to advances in society & technology. The off court influence Jordan had, while significant, have NOTHING to do with his career on the court, in the National Basketball Assoiciation. It is unfair and disrespectufl to greats such as Wilt, Russell, and Oscar, to elevate Jordan simply because he played in the modern era, while down playing them because they played in an era before the internet, mega-contracts, big money endosrments, and nationwide/global television audiences.
It’s amazing and disgusting that people with legit basketball knowledge and/or background can make such a false arguement for Jordan being the G.O.A.T.
Here’s a tidbit for all the dummies, and please fact check for yourselves to see that I’m not lying ortwisting the facts… When Michael Jordan retired, he held a grand total of 2 NBA records, yes that’s right and that’s all. Just TWO! When Wilt Chamberlain retired, he held 58 NBA records, of those records, 53 still stand today! FIFTY-THREE!!!
Any conversation about the single greatest basketball player of all time, should begin & end with Wilt Chamberlain. Anyone who offers ANY other name into the discussion only proves their own ignorance and stupidity. We’re not talking best team, or most rings, (which, in case folks forgot, is a TEAM accomplishment) we’re talking best individual player.
Also note, that during the Celtics insane run of winning 11 championships in 13 years, not once did their winning percentage top .600% That is proof positive that, while the league had far fewer teams, it was much more competitive.
So lets recap… Jordan wasn’t the most dominant, Wilt was. He wasn’t the most versatile, Ocar Robertson was. He doesn’t have the most points, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar does. Nor does he have the most rings, Bill Russell does. He doesn’t have the most records, again Wilt Chamberlain does. There is NO honest or realistic basis for saying Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player ever. One of these days, maybe the rest of the basketball world will take off their Jordan brand goggles, and see the truth and reality of the matter.

Good points status, and dont try to steal my patented “brongoggles” by switching it to jordan. Jordan is def top 5 all time. So if the l is retiring 23, then 6, 13, 14, 33 gotta be retired to.

Status: No, Jordan’s not the most versatile or dominant or winny-est player ever… he’s the combination of them all. No player combined scoring, passing, rebounding, man-on-man defense, team defense, leadership, dribbling, shooting, and winning like Jordan did. That’s what makes him great. If you keep focusing on ‘one’ aspect, you’re blinder than those kids you keep talking about with the goggles.

That’s why Kobe is a b##ch for picking no 24 . Trying to be 1 up on Mike. Get the F##k Outa Here. & All You KobeSexuals Bow Down To The King !!!!!!!!!!!!

Don’t forget Kareems Numba for F##k Sakes

Stern better Listen

We Takin Ova , We Takin Ova !!!! Me & Bron R Gonna Sort This League Out Proper. Word To Yo Mommas KobeSexuals !!!! ha ha ha ha ………

Yall Better Change the Subject COZ I WIN !!!

Staus, your an idiot.You make a lame case against Mike, and it makes you come off as an uneducated hoops fan that reads too many stats instead of enjoying ball for what it is. LBJ is right, modern day players play the way they do, because they grew up in the Jordan generation. No comparrison with the greats from yesteryear required.

I think it’s not a question as to whether Jordan is the GOAT or not… he is. That isn’t really a debate. The debate is whether Jordan is so high above the rest that his number deserves to be retired over everyone else. That’s a little more shaky. Is Jordan THAT much better than Wilt/Russell/Larry/Magic/Kareem/Oscar/Kobe/Reddick? That, my friend, I can’t answer.

I dont understand why Lebron feels the need to petition for the number 23 to be retired it doesnt make any sense to me. What if they decide ok Jordans number will be retired. What if someone else in the league says you know what? I think Wilt Chamberlains number should be retired or Magic Johnsons number what will they say then? Oh well im sorry we did that for Michael so now we really cant do that anymore. I sincerely hope that if Stern takes this retirement of the number 23 in consideration that every single coach, player, and retired player in the NBA has a say on it because this shouldnt be left in the hands of a few to make this decision. Am i right or am i right?

Dru Ha: why should the logo not be a white man from West Virginia?

Lebron is an idiot. I hope he never wins a title. Dude needs a big dose of “Earthality”.
Cap was as great as Jordan, just not as much marketing back when he was in his prime. But he’s the all-time leading scorer (quality over time).
Magic and Bird made the League big.
I think it will be a great thing if the players decide that no one else will wear it, but not have it officially retired. That would be gangsta.

The L deciding to retire the jersey, although it would be well intentioned, it would definitely create too much negativity. Would be a certainty that large minorities would argue why and suggest who should of been retired instead; it’s all far too impratical. However, it’d be safe if the players retire the jersey in honour of MJ because is undoubtedly the predominant influence on the majority of the players at the moment. Then in a decade or so, when people like Kobe and LBJ and Dwade, maybe KD too, will be the biggest influences on the new generation, players can start to choose 23 again and new # tribute could emerge. Then again, highly unlikely; players would probably never agree on who should be retired, just like we’ve all debated whether MJs # or that of someone else should be retired.

I’m not discounting how great a ball player Jordan was. He was top five all-time, and, I would say, the best ever, at his position. But for as great as he legitamately was, he was almost as over rated!
I would put Jordan 4th or 5th all-time, behind Wilt (58 NBA records at the time of his retirement), Russell (5 time MVP & 11 time NBA champion), & Oscar (averaged a triple double for a season), & maybe even Kareem (5 time MVP & 19 out of his 20 seasons he was an all-star).
The reason I use a lot of stats and numbers to back up my arguement is because the numbers are the ONLY thing that doesn’t lie! The numbers and stats aren’t biased, unlike the pervailing point of view that obviously does’t include any players whose careers happened before the 1984 draft or the mass marketing campaigns that made Jordan a household name (LOL).
If the debate were about what player had the largest off the court influence and impact, then Jordan wins it going away! Although I could also, make a case for Dr. J, Magic & Bird saving the league from obscurity when it was struggling mightily in the 70s and the start of the 80s. Had they not done that, Jordan probably would have never had the opportunity to become that trancendent personality. But make no mistake, being the most transcendent player and being the BEST player are two entirely different things.
If the debate is about who is the greatest individual basketball player, then there is no way to give that title to Jordan, without completely suspending reality. Unfortunately, he is commonly referred to as the greatest basketball player ever, and that is a FALSEHOOD that seriously needs to be addressed and debunked. People like the ones here at Slam, the best basketball publication around, should be sharp enough on their hoops history to not make the same mistake, but time and time again, that is not the case. How anyone who reads, writes, watches, talks and follows basketball for a living can make such a glaring mistake and contribute to perpetuaing the falsehood of Jordan being the greatest, is shameful, at best. My comment would be rejected if I said what it was, at worst… LOL.

I remember a similar thing me and a friend talked about many years ago. When Wilt Chamberlain died before the turn of the millenium (October of 1999 was still the 90′s), my friend said that the NBA should formally retire #13 league-wide.