LeBron James recently proposed a league-wide retirement of Michael Jordan’s No.23 jersey. James says he’ll start by ditching his own No.23 in favor of a new jersey number (6) next season, which inspired last week’s post about the 12 Most Memorable Jersey Changes in NBA History. As you might expect, Jordan has been asked to weigh in on this. Hey MJ, what do you think about retiring number 23?
Jordan says that while he appreciates the gesture from LeBron James, he doesn’t believe that No. 23 should be retired across the NBA unless Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Bill Russell can have their numbers retired as well.
“It was very nice, I totally understand that. But I’m a guy that says there is no one great player in the NBA. The NBA lasts a lot longer than one particular person so I understand what his point is. Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Bill Russell all those guys should have their jerseys retired too. I understand his gesture, but I’m in the same group as those guys so I wouldn’t want to see my jersey retired unless you retire those guys.”
He also added this: “Maybe he [LeBron] is trying to sell some other jersey.” Ouch!
What say ye, TRU Nation? Do you think the NBA should retire No.23 in honor of His Airness?
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